(Cleve 1485–1540 Antwerp)
The Virgin nursing the Christ Child,
oil on panel, 39 x 27.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Germany

The present Virgin and Child depicted in a dramatically mountainous landscape is characteristic of the circle of artists active around Joos van Cleve during his early Antwerp period, before the marked influence of Lombard painters such as Leonardo da Vinci transformed the colouring and lighting of such compositions from the 1520s onwards. The pose of the two central figures closely relates to The Holy Family (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) executed by Joos van Cleve around 1513.

The iconography in the present picture shows both the joys of motherhood and a premonition of the sorrow of Christ’s death, with a vase bearing a red rose, a symbol of the blood of Christ’s passion, and also a lily. Both flowers are not only a signifier for Mary’s purity but are also a symbol of death and grief. The crenelated building in the background may further symbolise Mary’s ‘cloistered’ purity, a setting in which she was allegorically portrayed in many contemporary prints. Her nursing breast is the motif of Maria Lactans pertaining to God’s love and nourishment of humanity and, finally, the fruit held by the infant Christ is a symbol of incarnation and rebirth.