ts to express excitement. Here the excitement is because the patron’s feud with a longtime enemy is over.Nearly one hundred years later, a Flemish artist by the name of Rogier van der Weyden painted Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin and Child. At first glance, the size and the compositions of the two paintings do not appear to be that different: both are dominated by two large figures in a symmetrical design with smaller details around. However, great advances in technique and style made in the 100 years and also regional differences are sources of change that has gone on. This image, a secular one as well, is one of the Madonna and her child and the first known artist to paint the Virgin, Saint Luke. As one can see, Christ is an infant in this painting, rather than a growth adult like he is in Barna di Siena’s Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine. Also, unlike Barna di Siena’s painting, this painting shows that the expressions, postures and gestures of the characters are very different from the trends of the older Renaissance. Rather than a bland yellow backdrop, van der Weyden’s painting shows a main scene in a room that opens up into a landscape behind. In the background there is a couple gazing out at the river and the surrounding Flemish town, thought to be the Virgin’s parents. The garden right outside the main room is thought to represent the Virgin’s purity.The original painting, seen at the MFA, Boston, was done on a panel as an altarpiece for chapel of the painter’s guild in Brussels. There are known to be two other well-regarded copies made and they are located in museums in England. This painting was not done in tempera like the older Italian works, but rather in oil paints. Oil paints dry much more slowly, so there is a chance for the different colors to fuse, and muted light and blurred images are possible, but so are extremely detailed images. The Flemish artists took great care ...
