Art Institute of Chicago

The Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist

Workshop of Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen (Netherlandish, c. 1470/75–by 1533)LinkedCulture matchlcp-c4934996e662

Date: c. 1520
Medium: Oil on panel
Culture: Netherlands
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Institution: Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID: 25787

From the Art Institute of Chicago record

The grief-stricken faces of the Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist once faced another panel referencing the Crucifixion. Their expressive features and weighty three dimensionality make their sorrow over Jesus’s death palpably human, while the golden space that they inhabit reinforces their sanctified status. Netherlandish devotional scenes sought to help viewers reach a liminal space between earthly reality and spiritual vision, a major objective of Christian prayer. Images of Christ’s suffering and his followers’ grief were meant to inspire empathy as a route to personal salvation.

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Provenance & credit

As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.

Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Provenance: Duc de Blacas, Paris; sold to Kleinberger, Paris, Feb. 21, 1914; sold to Ryerson, June 18, 1914; Martin A. Ryerson (d. 1932), Chicago; by descent to his wife Carrie Hutchinson Ryerson (1859–1937), Chicago, 1932 [Last Will and Testament of Martin A. Ryerson, Died August 11, 1932, copy in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago]; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1937.