Virgin and Child with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist

The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown holds this Virgin and Child with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist from 1522, a sacra conversazione that shows Metsys in his final years synthesizing Netherlandish devotional tradition with Italian compositional principles. The inclusion of the elderly Elizabeth and the young Baptist creates an intergenerational grouping that links the births of Christ and his precursor, a standard Counter-Reformation theological emphasis.

The pyramidal composition reveals Italian influence, while the surface detail—fabrics, skin textures, landscape background—retains the descriptive richness of Netherlandish tradition. Metsys’s late palette is warm and harmonious.