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Source Description

In this masterpiece, the Christ Child, cradled in his mother's left arm, energetically stretches out his right hand to put away his quill pen in the pen case hanging on a delicate strap from Mary's right wrist. Most likely he has just written the names of the saved on the piece of vellum in his left hand. Behind them, angels display a richly woven cloth to honor Mary as Queen of Heaven while others sing. This painting and its frame (carved from the same piece of wood) are intended to look like a contemporary mirror. The pious Christian would look into this "mirror" and see the Virgin and Christ, ideal reflections of the good Christian life. Indeed, the French phrase inscribed around the outer edge five times, "Je suis bien," perhaps best translated as "I am good [goodness?]," can best be interpreted as the words of Christ or his mother. The combination of complex iconography, naturalistic details, and delicate execution in this work is characteristic of the International Gothic style that flourished during the early 15th century. The painting derives its round shape from contemporary convex mirrors, and was probably intended to hang at the head of a bed.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
36313
label
Madonna with the Christ Child Writing
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
36313
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Madonna with the Christ Child Writing
description
In this masterpiece, the Christ Child, cradled in his mother's left arm, energetically stretches out his right hand to put away his quill pen in the pen case hanging on a delicate strap from Mary's right wrist. Most likely he has just written the names of the saved on the piece of vellum in his left hand. Behind them, angels display a richly woven cloth to honor Mary as Queen of Heaven while others sing. This painting and its frame (carved from the same piece of wood) are intended to look like a contemporary mirror. The pious Christian would look into this "mirror" and see the Virgin and Christ, ideal reflections of the good Christian life. Indeed, the French phrase inscribed around the outer edge five times, "Je suis bien," perhaps best translated as "I am good [goodness?]," can best be interpreted as the words of Christ or his mother. The combination of complex iconography, naturalistic details, and delicate execution in this work is characteristic of the International Gothic style that flourished during the early 15th century. The painting derives its round shape from contemporary convex mirrors, and was probably intended to hang at the head of a bed.
provenance
Hollingworth Magniac, Colworth, Bedford, by purchase; Charles Magniac, Colworth, 1867, by inheritance; Sale, Christie's, London, July 2, 1892, no. 181; Private collection, Switzerland [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Paul Drey Gallery, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1964, by purchase.
date
ca. 1410-1420 (Late Medieval)
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
paintings
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
2
height
22.3
dimensionsRaw
13/16 x 8 3/4 in. (2 x 22.3 cm) (d. x diam.)
style
Gothic
Source extras
cul
Burgundian
inscriptions
[Transcription] Inscribed on original frame: Je suis bien; [Translation] I am good [goodness?]
med
oil and gold leaf on wood
creator_ids
15361
collection_ids
REN
exhibition_ids
2122
2628
2289
316
3132
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
1541847829e0a90a