EYCK, Jan van
(b. before 1395, Maaseik, d. before 1441, Bruges)

The Madonna with Canon van der Paele (detail)

1436
Oil on wood
Groeninge Museum, Bruges

The Madonna with Canon van der Paele is an intimate picture, a forerunner of the finest Holbeins. In it Jan van Eyck shows an impassive Madonna seated between the two earthly powers, the priest and the warrior, the man mitred with gold and the man of iron.