Skip to main content

Workshop of Quinten Massys, 'The Virgin', about 1510-25

About the work

The Virgin Mary gazes to her right, her hands folded in prayer. She is richly dressed: her mantle is edged with delicate gold embroidery dotted with pearls, and her blue underdress is lined with brown fur. On her head is a circlet of three strands of pearls held with a jewelled catch, and a transparent veil woven of very fine threads.

This panel goes with another, showing showing Christ as the Salvator Mundi (‘Saviour of the World’), which is also in the National Gallery’s collection.

Key facts

Full title
The Virgin
Artist
Workshop of Quinten Massys
Artist dates
1465/6 - 1530
Part of the group
Diptych: Christ and the Virgin
Date made
about 1510-25
Medium and support
oil on wood
Dimensions
60.3 × 34.7 cm
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1857
Inventory number
NG295.2
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this work 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.

About the group: Diptych: Christ and the Virgin

Workshop of Quinten Massys, 'Diptych: Christ and the Virgin', about 1510-25

This composition of Christ as the Salvator Mundi (‘Saviour of the World’) adored by his mother, the Virgin Mary, was very popular in the early sixteenth century. These are workshop copies of originals painted by Quinten Massys towards the beginning of his career. His workshop then continued to produce further versions over a long period.

These panels were painted by Massys‘ two main associates, one working on each; some less important areas were delegated to assistants, who perhaps worked on both. Although the panels have always been regarded as a diptych (a painting made of two parts) they were not actually made to go together. The Virgin probably came from the stock in Massys’ workshop and was cut down to be paired with the painting of Christ.

Christ
Christ
Workshop of Quinten Massys
Christ gazes directly out at us from this small panel. Raising his right hand in blessing, he holds in his left hand a glass or crystal orb, decorated with gold bands set with pearls. On top of the orb is a jewelled gold cross and Christ wears a brooch set with precious stones.This is Christ as S...
Not on display
The Virgin
The Virgin
Workshop of Quinten Massys
The Virgin Mary gazes to her right, her hands folded in prayer. She is richly dressed: her mantle is edged with delicate gold embroidery dotted with pearls, and her blue underdress is lined with brown fur. On her head is a circlet of three strands of pearls held with a jewelled catch, and a trans...
Not on display

Related works

(Showing 6 of 8 works)
An Old Woman ('The Ugly Duchess')
An Old Woman ('The Ugly Duchess')
Quinten Massys
This must be one of the most arresting faces in the National Gallery’s Collection. An elderly woman with lively eyes set deep in their sockets, a snub nose, wide nostrils, pimply skin, a hairy mole, bulging forehead and a prominent square chin rests one hand on a marble parapet. Her neck is rumpl...
Room 54
The Crucifixion
The Crucifixion
Quinten Massys
This is the aftermath of the Crucifixion. The soldiers are riding away, and only Christ’s followers are left. Christ hangs from the Cross, dead or near death. The Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist stand on the left, while Mary Magdalene clings to the foot of the Cross. On the left Joseph of A...
Room 53
The Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Four Angels
The Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Four Angels
Quinten Massys
This paintings shows the Virgin as Queen of Heaven: she sits on a gilded throne and two angels hover above her, about to place an extraordinarily delicate crown on her head. The throne is decorated with red and green enamel or glass, and rests on the dais of a small Gothic church. The infant Chri...
Room 64
The Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine and Barbara
The Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine and Barbara
Quinten Massys
The Virgin Mary is seated on a marble and porphyry throne within a church; an opening on the left leads to a landscape. The infant Christ squats on her lap, and two saints kneel on either side: Catherine of Alexandria on the left and Barbara on the right.The naked child, wrapped in a white cloth,...
Room 54
The Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels in a Garden
The Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels in a Garden
Follower of Quinten Massys
The panels in this triptych (painting in three parts) show a garden with fruit trees, cypresses and other, unidentifiable trees planted in careful rows. Daisies, buttercups, violets and lilies of the valley carpet the foreground.In the centre panel, we see an elaborate building filled with dazzli...
Not on display
A Donor
A Donor
Workshop of Quinten Massys
A brown-haired man, dressed in black robes trimmed with brown fur, prays over a book that rests on a raised flower bed. There are no indications of his identity, but with his turned-up nose and strongly cleft chin he looks very like Quinten Massys‘ portrait of Peter Gillis (Collection of the Earl...
Not on display
Saint Luke painting the Virgin and Child
Saint Luke painting the Virgin and Child
Workshop of Quinten Massys
A man sits in a luxuriously furnished room, painting a picture. This is Saint Luke, patron saint of painters and physicians. Many of the objects around him refer to these professions, and his symbol, the ox, lies at his side.The picture is full of information on how Renaissance painters worked. S...
Not on display
The Virgin standing in a Niche
The Virgin standing in a Niche
Workshop of Quinten Massys
The Virgin Mary stands in a stone niche, her eyes tear-stained and her brow furrowed. Her hands are folded in prayer. We can't tell if this is meant to be a depiction of a very skilfully polychromed statue or one of Mary herself.This panel and Saint Luke painting the Virgin and Child are the back...
Not on display
You've viewed 6 of 8 works