The Glorification of the Virgin

The Glorification of the Virgin, at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, shows Mary enthroned in heaven surrounded by ranks of angels in a format that unites the traditional sacra conversazione with the celestial court. Painted around 1490, this is one of Geertgen's more ambitious compositional undertakings, managing a large number of figures without losing the intimate luminosity that distinguishes his work. The painting belongs to the late phase of his short career—Geertgen died before he was thirty—and shows his mature command of his pictorial language.

The celestial assembly is organized around the central enthroned Virgin, with angel musicians and attendants disposed in a semicircular arrangement. Geertgen differentiates each angelic figure through subtle variations of wing color, instrument, and facial expression while maintaining the soft, unified light that floods the entire composition.