The Virgin and Child with an Angel in a Landscape

This small arched painting shows the Virgin Mary and Christ Child seated in a landscape. Christ, balanced on the Virgin’s knee, reaches out to take something – probably a flower – that is being offered to him by an angel.The composition is a free version of The Virgin and Child with an Angel (Upton House, Warwickshire). The figures in the Upton House painting are based on a lost composition by Rogier van der Weyden, the Virgin and Child with a Flower. This was frequently repeated towards or after 1500, especially in Brussels.The present state of our painting makes it impossible to assess accurately. Under the veils of dirt and varnish it seems to be of very poor quality. The rocky crags and natural arch in the rock are slightly reminiscent of Joachim Patinir but are also found in pictures ​by van der Weyden. It may tentatively be suggested that the picture was painted in Brussels and dated around 1520. The apparently very poor quality could be an indication that it is by an amateur rather than a professional painter.