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Follower of Rogier van der Weyden, 'Christ appearing to the Virgin', late 15th century

Key facts
Full title Christ appearing to the Virgin
Artist Follower of Rogier van der Weyden
Artist dates about 1399 - 1464
Date made late 15th century
Medium and support oil, originally on wood, transferred to canvas
Dimensions 123.4 × 70.4 cm
Acquisition credit Bequeathed by Mrs Joseph H. Green, 1880
Inventory number NG1086
Location Not on display
Collection Main Collection
Previous owners
Christ appearing to the Virgin
Follower of Rogier van der Weyden
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The resurrected Christ has appeared to the Virgin Mary in a room in a fifteenth-century Netherlandish house. The appearance of Christ to the Virgin is not mentioned in the Gospels, but it was widely believed that immediately after the Resurrection he revealed himself first to his mother.

In the nineteenth-century this was hung with a Pentecost which was on panel and was the same size. The two paintings appear to be from the same complex, perhaps a large polyptych of the Passion (Christ’s torture and crucifixion). Both could have had painted reverses and may well have come from the folding wings of a carved altarpiece.

The composition is based on the right panel of Rogier van der Weyden’s Miraflores Altarpiece (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin) but the poor drawing and exaggerated gestures of both this and the Pentecost distance them from the artist.

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