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

Virgin and Child with the Veil

c. 1520
Oil on oak panel, 25 x 20 cm
Mauritshuis, The Hague

This composition, showing a playful Christ Child, who lifts his mother's veil in a game of peekaboo, became very popular in many versions produced by other artists at the end of Gossart's life and thereafter.

The original appearance of this small painting must have been more striking than it is today. In addition to somewhat abraded flesh tones and faded pink touches in the Virgin's lip, the cloth on the table has significantly faded.