Rem-Altar: Maria mit Kind

The Rem Altarpiece, commissioned by the Rem family of Augsburg and now in Munich’s Alte Pinakothek, was painted in 1518 and represents one of Metsys’s most important export commissions. This panel showing the Madonna and Child demonstrates that Metsys’s reputation extended well beyond the Low Countries to the great merchant cities of southern Germany. Augsburg’s banking families, including the Fuggers and Welsers, were among the richest art patrons in Europe.

The Madonna panel balances Netherlandish surface precision with the larger, more monumental forms that Metsys adopted in his mature period. The Child’s animated pose shows naturalistic observation of infant movement.