Virgin and Child with Saints Anne and Joachim

Joos van Cleve painted this image of the Virgin and Child around 1520, one of the most fundamental subjects in European devotional art. The intimate bond between mother and child served as a focus for prayer and meditation. The painting is in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Joos van Cleve was a leading Antwerp painter who synthesized Flemish panel painting tradition with Italian Renaissance influence, making him one of the most sought-after Netherlandish masters of his generation.

The devotional composition is rendered with attention to the expressive and contemplative qualities that served the painting's function as an aid to prayer and meditation.