Virgin and Child: Detail of the Virgin's sleeve

Detail of the Virgin's sleeve ; For this Virgin and Child, Gossaert emphasized the sensuous nature of the intimate embrace of the figures. He based the pose on Italian examples such as Michelangelo's Bruges Madonna or Lucca della Robbia's many glazed terracottas of the Virgin and Child in a niche that he may have seen as he passed through Florence on his way to Rome in 1508. Gossaert emphasized his sculptural approach by placing the highly volumetric figures in an architectural niche. The stark white flesh tones of the figures were densely worked up with lead-white paint to approximate the sur... Mehr ...