Deesis (Virgin Mary, Christ Blessing, and St. John the Baptist)

The model for The Deesis, one of Gossaert's most sumptuous paintings, was Hubert and Jan van Eyck's 1432 altarpiece The Adoration of the Lamb. Gossaert assimilated the principal figures of the Van Eyck masterpiece but made alterations that slightly changed the meaning. In Gossaert's painting, the central figure appears without the papal miter and staff and thus is not King of Kings and Lord of Lords but simply Jesus Christ (identified by the insignia IHS on his pectoral). The Virgin Mary does not read scriptures but prays to Christ, and St. John the Baptist points to the savior as if to say, "... Mehr ...