1483 (ca.), Hans Memling, Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine of Alexandria and Barbara -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
From the museum label: Memling adapted this composition from a large, celebrated altarpiece that he completed in 1479 for the Sint-Janshospitaal in Bruges. This smaller, more modest version was commissioned by an unidentified donor who kneels at the left. He is shown reciting his rosary as he contemplates Saint Catherine's mystic marriage to the infant Jesus. Saint Barbara, whose attribute—the tower—is behind her, sets a meditative example by reading. The grape arbor above the Virgin's throne was most likely added shortly after Memling's lifetime, in the early sixteenth century, when the cult of the Eucharist became increasingly popular.
1483 (ca.), Hans Memling, Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine of Alexandria and Barbara -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
From the museum label: Memling adapted this composition from a large, celebrated altarpiece that he completed in 1479 for the Sint-Janshospitaal in Bruges. This smaller, more modest version was commissioned by an unidentified donor who kneels at the left. He is shown reciting his rosary as he contemplates Saint Catherine's mystic marriage to the infant Jesus. Saint Barbara, whose attribute—the tower—is behind her, sets a meditative example by reading. The grape arbor above the Virgin's throne was most likely added shortly after Memling's lifetime, in the early sixteenth century, when the cult of the Eucharist became increasingly popular.