Saint John the Baptist and a Bishop Saint

Description The ethereal but naively drawn figures set against a landscape of flattened mounds are typical of the haunting compositions of this master, identified only through a group of works related to a painting of the Virgo inter Virgines (Virgin among Virgins) now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The small town of Delft, where woodcuts of his designs were published and where he is presumed to have worked, was far from the sophisticated cities to the south, such as Bruges and Ghent. Elongated panels, such as this one, typically functioned as the wings of an altarpiece. The presence of a coat of arms with the "fleur-de-lys" (lily) of France suggests that the altarpiece may have been commissioned for someone connected with the French royal court.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
2/03/1942	Treatment	cradle removed; lined
3/18/1966	Examination	examined for condition; examined for survey
8/05/1981	Examination	examined for condition
9/17/1981	Treatment	coated; filled; inpainted; surface cleaned; varnish removed or reduced

Exhibitions

• Salute to Belgium. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1980.
• New Light on Old Pictures: Dutch and Flemish Paintings from the Walters. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1981-1982.
• French Master Drawings. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1997-1998.

Provenance Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902