Virgin and Child
- Date
- 1470–75
- Material
- Oil on panel
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- European Art to 1800
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 237
- Dimensions
- 23 5/8 x 16 3/8 in. (60 x 41.6 cm)
framed: 27 7/8 x 21 x 3 1/2 in. (70.8 x 53.3 x 8.9 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leicester B. Faust
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 155:1971
NOTES
An unknown artist used one of Rogier van der Weyden’s drawings to capture this tender moment between a mother and her baby. Van der Weyden was renowned for his expressive, naturalistic figures, especially his iconic images of the Virgin and Child. Following a prevalent compositional type, the Virgin seems to present her son as he sits atop a gold brocade pillow resting on a stone parapet. The child holds a butterfly between his two fingers, a reference to death and rebirth, and thus a reminder of Christ’s coming sacrifice.
Provenance
by 1911 -
Bourgeois Galleries, Paris, France [1]
Warwick House Collection [2]
by 1925 - 1971
Edward A. Faust, St. Louis, MO, purchased from Warwick House through Kleinberger Galleries; Leicester B. Faust (d.1979) and Mary Plant Faust (d.1996), Chesterfield, MO, by inheritance [3]
1971 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Mr. and Mrs. Leicester B. Faust [4]
Notes:
[1] Max Friedlander lists the painting as having been on the "Paris art market (Bourgeois, 1911)." In the catalogue notes, Friedlander states that "because of the disruption in international communications occasioned by the war, I am often unaware of the present whereabouts of paintings I last saw in possession of art dealers. In such instances I have noted the dealer's name and the year in which I saw the painting in his possession" [Friedlander, Max J. "Early Netherlandish Painting." Vol. 2. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967, cat. no. 119, p. 86]. Bourgeois Galleries was probably operated by the French dealer Stephan Bourgeois (1881-1964). In 1914, Bourgeois moved to New York and opened a gallery dedicated to the exhibition of American and European modern art ["Archives, Manuscripts, Photographs Catalogue," Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., accessed January 5, 2005,].
[2] According to a letter from Leicester Faust the painting was purchased from Warwick House through the arrangements his father, Edward Faust, made with Kleinberger Galleries [letter dated June 17, 1971, SLAM document files]. The letter does not state the circumstances of the transaction or the location of the Warwick House. Faust purchased the work sometime before 1925, when Emily Hutchings documented the panel as in the Faust collection [Hutchings, Emily Grant. "The Faust Collection: Paintings and objects of art brought together by Edward A. Faust of St. Louis, one of America's Great Collections." "International Studio" 81 (September 1925): 438-445].
[3] See note [2].
[4] Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, City Art Museum, December 17, 1971.
Bourgeois Galleries, Paris, France [1]
Warwick House Collection [2]
by 1925 - 1971
Edward A. Faust, St. Louis, MO, purchased from Warwick House through Kleinberger Galleries; Leicester B. Faust (d.1979) and Mary Plant Faust (d.1996), Chesterfield, MO, by inheritance [3]
1971 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Mr. and Mrs. Leicester B. Faust [4]
Notes:
[1] Max Friedlander lists the painting as having been on the "Paris art market (Bourgeois, 1911)." In the catalogue notes, Friedlander states that "because of the disruption in international communications occasioned by the war, I am often unaware of the present whereabouts of paintings I last saw in possession of art dealers. In such instances I have noted the dealer's name and the year in which I saw the painting in his possession" [Friedlander, Max J. "Early Netherlandish Painting." Vol. 2. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967, cat. no. 119, p. 86]. Bourgeois Galleries was probably operated by the French dealer Stephan Bourgeois (1881-1964). In 1914, Bourgeois moved to New York and opened a gallery dedicated to the exhibition of American and European modern art ["Archives, Manuscripts, Photographs Catalogue," Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., accessed January 5, 2005,
[2] According to a letter from Leicester Faust the painting was purchased from Warwick House through the arrangements his father, Edward Faust, made with Kleinberger Galleries [letter dated June 17, 1971, SLAM document files]. The letter does not state the circumstances of the transaction or the location of the Warwick House. Faust purchased the work sometime before 1925, when Emily Hutchings documented the panel as in the Faust collection [Hutchings, Emily Grant. "The Faust Collection: Paintings and objects of art brought together by Edward A. Faust of St. Louis, one of America's Great Collections." "International Studio" 81 (September 1925): 438-445].
[3] See note [2].
[4] Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, City Art Museum, December 17, 1971.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.