Madonna and Child

In 1615 the archdukes Albert and Isabella, rulers of the Southern Netherlands, wanted to buy a Virgin by Quinten Metsys from the Antwerp collector Cornelis van der Geest. That picture is lost, but several versions of the design survive from the master's workshop, and this is one. The Rijksmuseum, which owns it and has lent it to the Mauritshuis since 1948, catalogues it as workshop work, though good enough to be by the master himself. The Mauritshuis credits him or his studio, or both. Tree-ring dating places it in the late 1520s, most likely around 1527. The child kisses his mother on the lips, a tender pose that goes back to Byzantine icons. She holds two cherries, the fruit of paradise, and on the ledge in front lie an apple for the Fall and grapes for the wine of the Eucharist.