GOSSART, Jan
(b. ca. 1478, Maubeuge, d. 1532, Middelburg)

Carondelet Diptych (verso)

1517
Oil on panel, 43 x 27 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

The reverse of the Virgin and Child panel portrays a skull in a niche, painted with extraordinary realism. Above is a quote from St Jerome concerning the fragility of life and the inevitability of death. The adjoining verso shows Carondelet's coat of arms, apparently painted by an inferior hand.