The Virgin and Child Enthroned

Hans Memling made this in Bruges around 1480, at the height of his success in the busiest trading city in northern Europe. What stands out is how plain he kept it. The Virgin sits on a simple wooden bench set on a bare tiled floor, with none of the Oriental carpets or gold brocade that painters of the day used to signal heaven. That restraint looks back to the previous generation, to Rogier van der Weyden and the Master of Flemalle, who had placed their Madonnas in quiet, almost domestic rooms. The Christ child reaches and twists with real infant weight, and Memling gives both faces the smooth, untroubled calm his patrons prized. It is one of the largest of his enthroned Virgins, and among the best preserved.