“The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret,” an altarpiece dating to about 1510, looks a little bit like a Vermeer or a van Eyck. Art historians are yet to determine the author of this unique work of art, currently attributed to “unknown Netherlandish or French artist.”
Despite its uncertain origin, this unique painting is considered a masterpiece of late medieval and Renaissance art. London’s National Gallery announced the acquisition of the altarpiece for $20 million.
The painting stands out for the unusual set of subjects it depicts. We see the Virgin and the Child flanked by two saints, the holy king of France St. Louis and St. Margaret, and two angels. Satan in the form of a grimacing beast is crushed under Mary's feet.
This eccentric choice of subject is reminiscent of the early work of 16th-century Belgian painter Jan Gossaert, whose “Adoration of the Kings” is in the National Gallery’s collection. The painting’s style, with a strong sense of plasticity and shadows, also recalls the world of French 15th-century painters like Jean Hey.
London’s National Gallery is celebrating its bicentenary in 2024-2025 and has been acquiring a series of artworks for the occasion, including “After the Audience” by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema; Poussin’s “Eucharist” and “The Full-length Mirror” by Eva Gonzalès.
The newly acquired unknown masterpiece is the latest of the gallery’s bicentennial acquisitions and is on view as part of “C C Land: The Wonder of Art,” the National Gallery’s largest reinstallation of its collection to date, marking the debut of the newly renovated Sainsbury Wing. It was acquired thanks to the support of the American Friends of the National Gallery.
“This is a rare and exciting addition to the National Gallery’s superb collection of Early Netherlandish Paintings,” Emma Capron, Curator of Early Netherlandish and German Paintings at the National Gallery, said in a press release, “This altarpiece is the work of a talented and highly original artist, and I hope that ongoing research and the painting’s public display will help solve this conundrum in the future.”
