Madonna and Child with Angels

The Master of the Embroidered Foliage painted this Madonna and Child with Angels around 1500 in Brussels. The distinctive embroidery-like treatment of vegetation that names this master creates a unique decorative quality in his devotional paintings. The Louvre provenance reflects French royal collecting of Netherlandish masterworks. The oil medium allowed for rich tonal transitions and glazed layers of color that created luminous depth impossible with the older tempera technique. Such devotional panels served both liturgical contexts in churches and chapels and private devotional use in the homes of wealthy families who maintained personal altars and oratories.

Oil on panel with the Master's signature minutely detailed foliage creating a tapestry-like backdrop. The Madonna and angels are set against this distinctive verdant setting with luminous Netherlandish coloring.