The Wilton Diptych

In 1396 Richard II of England married Isabella, the six-year-old daughter of Charles VI of France, and a truce between the two kingdoms came with her. This small folding altarpiece was made for him in the last years of his reign, about 1395 to 1399. The National Gallery names its painter only as English or French, with a question mark. On one wing the king kneels, presented by John the Baptist and two English saint-kings, Edward the Confessor and Edmund. On the other, the Virgin and Child are surrounded by 11 angels, and every one wears the king's own badge, the white hart. His gold robe is patterned with harts and broom pods, a plant that punned on the Plantagenet name and was also an emblem of Charles VI. At the top of the banner staff sits a tiny orb showing a green island with a white tower, England offered to the Virgin.