Malvagna triptych

Gossaert's Malvagna Triptych from around 1513-1514 was painted for the Sicilian collector Don Ramirez de Guzmán, with its main panel now in Palermo. The triptych format — central Madonna flanked by wings — combined the traditional Flemish altarpiece structure with the Italianate architectural setting Gossaert had developed after his Rome journey. The work's Sicilian destination reflected the international reputation he had established as the leading Flemish painter of his generation and the demand for Flemish altarpieces throughout the Mediterranean world. The Malvagna Triptych shows his mature synthesis of the two traditions he had absorbed.

The elaborate classical architectural framework combines Italian Renaissance motifs with Netherlandish attention to detail, while the figures demonstrate Gossaert's distinctive blend of Northern realism and Italian idealization.