Peter Paul Rubens

Siegen, 1577 – Antwerp, 1640

Dressed with a blue gown and a red upper garment, the Virgin Mary is tenderly supporting his son. The baby stands on a marble stone which clearly suggests his own tomb. His mother, deeply aware of his painful destiny, is looking at him thoughtfully. This holy scene remembers the “Virgin with Child” depicted by Rubens on the left wing of the “Entombment of Christ”, a large triptych dated 1617, now in Antwerp. Painting the wings of the above-mentioned triptych, Rubens is supposed to have used a composition already elaborated in his studio. This version of the “Virgin with Child” is a very skilfully painted and well-conserved independent canvas.