PROVOST, Jan
(b. ca. 1465, Mons, d. 1529, Bruges)

Virgin and Child

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Oil on oak panel, 33,7 x 23,9 cm
Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

This work was copied from a lost Memling composition. The painting is actually much bigger than the original and is rounded off at the top. The landscape has disappeared, too, and the Virgin has an aureole round her head. The Child sits on a wall over which hangs an oriental carpet. This motif is certainly typical of Memling, but we do not know whether it was present in the original.

The attribution to Provost is not generally accepted, Michel Sittow is also suggested as author of this painting.