Lot 2001 D α

This painting depicts the Virgin Mary sitting on a bench overgrown with plant life, holding the nude infant Christ on a white cloth in Her lap. The Child turns His gaze towards the viewer and holds up His left hand in a gesture of blessing, while Mary looks down at the open book in Her left hand. The group of figures, depicted close up and dominating the foreground, is backed by a finely painted landscape with mountains and woodland. Four small-format scenes from the life of the Virgin have been inserted into the landscape backdrop, namely the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi.
In the past, this painting has been attributed to the so-called Master of Frankfurt. The notname of this Flemish painter, whose real identity remains unknown, does not refer to his town of origin, but to the triptych he created with the Crucifixion of Christ and portraits of the founders of the Humbracht family from around 1500-1504 housed in the Städel Museum in Frankfurt (inv. no. 715). The Master of Frankfurt was probably active as the head of a workshop in Antwerp until 1518. Stylistically, he can be seen as a successor to the works of Hugo van der Goes.