ROGIER VAN DER WEYDEN

This masterfully painted work is at once a devotional object and a tender image of the interaction between a mother and her baby. The Virgin gently supports the Child, who stands unsteadily as he reaches out to grab a book, probably a Book of Hours that would have included meditations on Christ’s death. The Child seems more interested in playing with the clasps of the leather-bound volume than in inviting the viewer to contemplate His future sacrifice.