Follower of Robert Campin, 'The Virgin and Child before a Firescreen', about 1440

The Virgin and Child before a Firescreen

Follower of Robert Campin

Not on display

About the work

Overview

This puzzling picture of the Virgin and Child is often called the ‘Firescreen Madonna’, after the large wicker firescreen behind the Virgin’s head. We do not know who it was made for, or where or how it was used. We are not even sure how it originally looked: it was extensively restored in the nineteenth century.

Although they are biblical figures, the artist has placed the Virgin and Christ inside a wealthy, even palatial, Netherlandish home. The Virgin is dressed as a queen. She wears a blue overdress over a linen shift, open at the neck to show her blue-veined breasts. Wisely, she has spread a white cloth over her knees to protect her clothes from the naked, wriggling child. A tiny hook at its corner would have allowed it to be hung up to dry.

Christ’s genitals are clearly visible under the Virgin’s left hand. They were perhaps meant to remind viewers that Christ was fully human, and shared humanity’s vulnerability.

In-depth

This puzzling picture of the Virgin and Child is often called the ‘Firescreen Madonna’, after the large wicker firescreen behind the Virgin’s head. It is a complex painting in many ways. We do not know who it was made for, or where or how it was used.

We are not even sure how it originally looked: the painting was extensively restored in the nineteenth century. A narrow strip was added along the top, confusing the structure of the chimney piece. The panel was cut on the right, perhaps because it had been damaged by fire and a broader strip – including the Virgin’s left elbow, the carved cupboard and the chalice – was added. We don‘t know whether these details were copied from the original or invented by the restorer.

Although they are biblical figures, the artist has placed the Virgin and Christ inside a wealthy, even palatial, Netherlandish home. A fire is blazing in the large stone fireplace, its flames just visible over the top of the firescreen. Firelight flickers on the tall iron firedogs, and on the three-legged wooden stool in front of the window. The floor is laid with coloured tiles; cushions and costly textiles are flung on the carved wooden bench. A beautifully bound bible, with blue and red initials, lies open beside Mary, its parchment pages fluttering in the draft from the open window. Its jewelled clasps, gilt fore-edges, red tasselled page-markers and white chemise – a cover, like a dust-jacket, which protected especially precious manuscripts – are minutely depicted, down to the tie holding the chemise around the book.

The Virgin is clearly the Queen of Heaven in her palace. She wears a blue overdress (which was once more purple) over a linen shift, open at the neck to show her blue-veined breasts. The overdress is lined with grey fur and trimmed with precious stones, her long loose hair is a symbol of both virginity and regality. Wisely, she has spread a white cloth over her knees to protect her clothes from the naked, wriggling child. A tiny hook at its corner would have allowed it to be hung up to dry.

Through the window we can see a walled Netherlandish town with a tall church tower and gabled buildings. Its tiny details are tricky to see, but horsemen ride through the streets, a woman stands in a doorway watching two men with a ladder fighting a fire next door, and a customer chats to a woman at a shop window. In the distance, a white farmhouse nestles in wooded hills, and mountains fade into the blue distance.

There are various oddities in the composition: the Virgin seems to hover between bench and floor, and although she holds her right breast she would feed Christ more easily with her left. Her left hand doesn’t properly support her child, who waves one hand aimlessly in the air: he has lost the beads which would have given his gesture meaning. The artist, who perhaps also painted the Merode Triptych (The Met Cloisters, New York), seems to have assembled elements from different paintings by Campin and Rogier van der Weyden.

Technical analysis reveals many changes. Christ originally looked towards the window, not the viewer, and the position of his feet was altered. There were also alterations in the Virgin’s face, sleeves and left hand, which appears to have been moved downwards to reveal Christ’s genitals (these were hidden by a restorer but came to light when the painting was cleaned in 1992–3). It was clearly important that his genitals could be seen – they were perhaps meant to remind viewers that Christ was fully human, and shared humanity’s vulnerability.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Virgin and Child before a Firescreen
Artist: Follower of Robert Campin
Artist dates: 1378/9 - 1444
Date made: about 1440
Medium and support: oil on wood with later additions
Dimensions: 63.4 × 48.5 cm
Acquisition credit: Salting Bequest, 1910
Inventory number: NG2609
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: George Salting
Frame: 21st-century Replica Frame

Provenance

On the reverse is written, in a hand difficult to date but perhaps of the eighteenth or nineteenth century: ‘conte balbiano’. This was presumably the name of an early owner. Members of the Balbiano family, from Chieri near Turin, held the titles Conte di Viale and Conte di Aramengo, and it is no doubt to one of these Conti Balbiano that the inscription refers. Bode, who saw the picture in the hands of a commission agent named Riblet in Florence in about 1875, was told that it came from the ‘Conte de Bardi, also aus altem Parmenser Besitz’. According to Wurzbach, it was supposedly from the collection of the ducal family in Parma and was sold in Venice in 1875 to Léon Somzée. The ‘Conte de Bardi’ was Enrico di Borbone (1851–1905), Conte di Bardi, younger brother of Roberto, the last reigning Duke of Parma. Léon [de] Somzée (1837–1901), an industrialist and collector, lived in Brussels. His sons Côme and Gaetan inherited his collection and in July 1902 Gaetan sold several pictures, including NG 2609, to Agnew’s. George Salting (1836–1909) bought the picture from Agnew’s in September 1903 and it formed part of the Salting Bequest of 1910.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Lorne Campbell, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Schools’, London 1998; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2010

Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries

The National Gallery (London)

30 June 2010 - 12 September 2010

Bibliography

1882

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1887

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1928

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1936

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1939

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1945

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1953

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1971

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1980

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1982

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1984

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1984

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1985

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1987

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1991

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1991

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1992

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1992

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1993

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1993

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1994

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1994

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1994

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1994

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1996

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1997

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1997

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1997

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1998

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2000

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2001

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2005

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About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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Follower of Robert Campin, 'The Virgin and Child before a Firescreen', about 1440

About the work

Overview

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Provenance

Additional information

Source

Exhibition history

Bibliography

About this record

Images

Related works