Workshop of Sir Anthony van Dyck

The painting presents a strong and clear image and requires no immediate attention. The panel is flat, stable and cradled and comprises two vertical boards with a join at the center. The background is a little abraded due to the thin nature in which it was painted and has been strengthened throughout, though this is not immediately apparent to the naked eye. Inspection under UV reveals retouching to the aforementioned panel join and a vertical crack running parallel to it. There are further retouches scattered throughout, with some older strengthening to the shadows in the Virgin's neck and to the background. The painting is ready to hang, requiring no further work and is offered an elaborately carved gilt wood frame.
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This tender portrayal of a young Christ child resting on the bare breast of his mother relates to a lost painting by Anthony van Dyck formerly in the Viennese collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, whose inventory records “an original by Van Dyck” measuring 85.3 by 72.8 cm.¹  Although some have placed this image in the artist’s first Antwerp or Italian periods, its fluidity as well as its connection to Titian’s Madonna Nursing the Child (National Gallery, London, inv. no. 3948) suggest a more likely situation within his second Antwerp period.²  During this time, the artist’s growing popularity was met with an influx of commissions, leading to the production of many high-quality works from his talented workshop.  In addition to the present painting, versions of this composition can be found at The Bob Jones University, South Carolina (inv. no. 53.47) and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. 51.33.1), among others.³   Further attesting its popularity, engravings after this image by artists such as Conraad Waumans, Wallerant Vaillant, and Jacob Gole circulated heavily throughout northern Europe during the seventeenth century.⁴

1.  The inventory records “A piece, in oil colours on canvas, in which Our Lady sits with the nude Christ child on her lap, who places his head on the exposed breast of his mother…4 spans 1 finger high, and 3 spans 5 fingers wide. By Van Dyck, original.” See S. Barnes, et al., Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven 2004, p. 398, under cat. no. III. A3.
2.  See W. Liedtke, Flemish Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1984, vol. I, p. 75, and S. Barnes, ibid., p. 399.
3.  Other versions have also been recorded in Turin, Ghent, The Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen in Munich, and in Alsemberg Brabant. See The Bob Jones University Collection of Religious Paintings, 2, Greenville, 1962, pp. 292-293, cat. no. 170, and W. Liedtke, ibid, vol. II, p. 46, reproduced plate 31.   
4.  See C. Depauw and G. Luijten, Anthony Van Dyck as a Printmaker, exhibition catalogue, New York 1999, p. 303, figs. 33, 34.