Hans Memling
The presented painting belongs to the group of depictions of Madonna and the Child produced in large numbers in the Netherlands in the second half of the 15th century for the purposes of private devotion. Small-sized and intimate in character, those paintings were used for individual contemplation in private dwellings.
The work is typical of Memling, the famous painter active in Bruges, who principally worked to commission for private clients ordering small-sized productions from him. The painting has traits characteristic of the artist's style, namely softness, delicacy, subdued colours and emotional calm. In spite of certain "problems" such as the anatomical flaw that consists in placing Mary's breast too high, the work has recently been recognized as executed by the master himself.