MEMLING, Hans
(b. ca. 1440, Seligenstadt, d. 1494, Bruges)

The Donne Triptych (detail)

c. 1475
Oil on oak
National Gallery, London

The two female saints are Catherine (shown in this detail), presenting Sir John to the Virgin, and Barbara behind Lady Donne. Catherine's identifying wheel and Barbara's tower wittily appear as realistic incidents in the distant landscape behind them - the former as a millwheel in the water, with the miller loading a sack of flour on his donkey nearby.