The Virgin standing in a Niche

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 and front of a single painting. They were once the right wing of a triptych (a painting made of three parts), although they were painted by different artists. She is similar to various half-length images of the Virgin from the workshop of Quentin Massys (compare this painting to The Virgin), which were often paired with images of her son, Christ.The missing left wing of the triptych probably showed a full-length figure of Christ after the Resurrection on its exterior, standing in a niche and raising his hand in blessing. He may have looked a little like the Christ in Christ the Good Shepherd standing in a Landscape (Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA), attributed to the Master of the Mansi Magdalen.