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02-06-2026
Rogier van der Weyden

Tournai (Belgium), 1399 - Brussels (Belgium), 1464

Rogier van der Weyden See author's file

The Virgin and Child (Durán Madonna)

1435 - 1438. Oil on baltic oak planks.
Room 058

In its current state, the painting shows Mary with the Child on her lap sitting in front of a stone niche whose back wall is in darkness. The base of the niche is circular and juts out in a convex shape, which would have originally created an interesting visual effect in combination with the concave circular back wall of the niche, which is now overpainted. The architectural decoration includes a moulding with plant motifs in the lower part of the base of the niche and Gothic tracery in the semicircular arch, both beneath the intrados, where it is openwork, and on the spandrels, where it is low relief. Mary wears a grand red mantle richly decorated with a gold border patterned with trefoil scrolls and pearl edging, which covers her from head to toe. On her head is a white veil that falls onto her shoulders. Beneath the mantle she sports a robe lined in green silk, which is visible in the sleeves and in a few details, over a white chemise that shows at the neck. An underdress of rich cloth of gold can also be seen beneath the mantle.

The Child is clad only in an opaque white shirt. He leans against his mother, clumsily turning the pages of the book held by her, as if playing with them. The text is illegible, with strokes representing the lines among which a blue capital B can be made out. Above them an angel is crowning Mary. He is positioned in front of the arch, as indicated by the upper part of the wings, aligned vertically with the Virgin’s head, and wears a purple tunic. The lower tips of his wings are now indistinguishable from the black overpaint of the background, but they were initially visible below the tracery.

Jesus’ childish gesture of toying with the book, which probably represents the Old Testament, should be taken as a reference to the new era ushered in by his coming and the redemption his sacrifice will bring. This concept is also reflected in the colour of Mary’s clothing: the identical red of the tunic and cape instead of the more common combination of two colours is an allusion to sacrifice and sorrow about the future Passion and death of her son, consonant with Van der Weyden’s custom of infusing robes with symbolism in his Marian representations.

The Durán Virgin enjoyed unusual success as a composition, as many copies and partial versions are known, and it must have reached Spain, where most of them are located, very soon. The two more or les complete known copies of the ensemble, including the niche, are directly linked to the kingdom of Castile.

Most authors date the painting to the beginning of Rogier’s career, when the artist was producing the abovementioned pictures with which the Durán Madonna shares similar creative concerns. The second half of the 1430s therefore seems the most likely date. The visual effects are also consonant with the artist’s own ideas explored in the works of his early period, namely the ambiguity between sculptural representation and reality. Mary sits with the Child in front of a niche whose three-dimensional back wall, not currently visible, presented the scene as the depiction of a sculpture, to which the architectural setting contributes. However, the use of colour in the figures and above all in the flying angel who approaches with the crown indicates that we are viewing a real scene with live figures. This impression is largely aided by the naturalness of the gesture of the Child toying with the pages of the book, a portrayal far removed from the solemnity of a sculpture.

Pérez Preciado, José Juan, Fifteenth-century netherlandish painting at the Museo Nacional del Prado. Catalogue raisonné, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2024, p.328-337 nº.42

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Imagen del carrusel

Related artworks

Inventory number
P002722
Author
Rogier van der Weyden
Title
The Virgin and Child (Durán Madonna)
Date
1435 - 1438
Technique
Oil
Support
Baltic oak planks
Dimension
Height: 100 cm; Width: 52 cm
Provenance
Infante Luis de Borbón y Farnesio; inherited by his daughter, María Luisa de Borbón y Vallabriga, wife of Joaquín José Melgarejo, 1st Duke of San Fernando; inherited by María Luisa’s niece, Carlota Luisa de Godoy y Borbón, Countess of Chinchón and Duchess of Sueca; acquired by Pedro Fernández Durán in 1899 the work from the then Duke of Sueca, Alfonso Rúspoli y Godoy; Bequest of Pedro Fernández Durán y Bernaldo de Quirós, 1931
Entry date
1931

Bibliography +

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Other inventories +

Inv. Nuevas Adquisiciones (iniciado en 1856). Núm. 1553.
Autor: Weyden. / 1553. Asunto: La Virgen y el Niño / Tabla: 100 x 52 cm / Legado de Fernández Durán en 1930...

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1942-1996. Núm. 2722.

Inscriptions +

B. 193
Inscribed in white. Back

molduras artísticas / Hijos de José Cano / Gobernador […] / Madrid
Seal. Frame, back

B 193
Inscribed in white. Frame, back

Exhibitions +

Museo del Prado 1819-2019. A place of memory
Madrid
19.11.2018 - 10.03.2019

Rogier van der Weyden (ca.1399-1464)
Madrid
24.03.2015 - 28.06.2015

Location +

Room 058 (On Display)

Expuesto
Update date: 02-06-2026 | Registry created on 28-04-2015

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