Jan Gossart

Jan Gossart was the first Netherlandish artist to absorb the achievements of classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance into his artistic vocabulary. Uniting Renaissance architectural forms and classicizing figures with a rich color palette, he achieved a distinctly new style of Northern European painting. He is also credited with introducing mythological subjects with sensual nude figures into the Netherlands.

In 1508–09, Gossart traveled to Rome in the company of Philip of Burgundy, the admiral of the Netherlands. While there, Gossart experienced the art of Michelangelo and Raphael, an encounter which changed his approach to composition and form. Previously, his style had been one of highly embellished surfaces and densely populated scenes. Inspired by his Italian sojourn as well as his study of the works of Albrecht Dürer, Gossart began to paint figures in both his religious works and his portraits that appeared sculptural in form. 

His Virgin and Child shows the stone-like surfaces and demure characterization of the Virgin that is indicative of all his devotional works. The naturalistic folds of the drapery and the attentive modeling of the faces reveal the influence of his Italian journey, but the fantastic circle of light, or aureole, behind the figures recalls often patterned backgrounds in Gossart’s portraits and devotional paintings. This panel would have been joined to a donor portrait, the subject of which would receive the Christ Child’s blessing.

Besides initiating the visit to Italy that would become standard practice for Northern European painters for the next century and a half, Gossart can be credited with reinvigorating popular devotional subjects like the Virgin Mary and Christ Child with a real-world physicality.