Virgin and Child

Description This Virgin and Child subtly incorporates traditional allusions to the miraculous. Mary's long, loose hair identifies her as a virgin, alluding to the virgin birth. The palatial column evokes her future reign as Queen of Heaven, while the nakedness of the Christ Child, explicitly a little boy, reminds believers that, miraculously, Christ was fully human and fully God. Van Dyck worked in the Antwerp studio of Peter Paul Rubens before spending six years in Italy. Once returned, he created a style synthesizing that of Flanders and Italy, producing dramatic, yet elegant religious works such as this Virgin and Child, one of several versions; Van Dyck's personal touch is most evident here in the Virgin's face and hand. He subsequently became court painter to King Charles I of England, who raised him to the nobility.Further analysis within the context of the "Chamber of Wonders" installation plus bibliography

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
1/26/1942	Treatment	coated; inpainted; varnish removed or reduced
1/05/1967	Treatment	inpainted
12/01/1985	Treatment	coated; inpainted
12/02/1985	Technical Report	chemical analysis; examined for technical study
12/02/1985	Examination	examined for condition
12/13/1985	Treatment	coated; inpainted
5/01/1986	Technical Report	examined for technical study
1/29/1988	Treatment	coated
2/24/1993	Examination	examined for condition
3/01/1996	Treatment	other
6/17/1996	Examination	examined for condition

Exhibitions

• Christmas Display at the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company. Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, Baltimore. 1966-1967.
• Salute to Belgium. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1980.
• A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte. 2002-2004.

Provenance Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, until 1886; Agnew, London, by purchase; Joseph Ruxton [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, Christie's, London, May 21-22, 1898, no. 70; T. J. Blakeslee, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, December 1898, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1898