another oil painting by my beloved Jan van Eyck 🙏 the painting shows Mary sitting on a wooden throne under a canopy, breastfeeding baby Jesus. but here’s the thing: it’s believed that the painting actually depicts the artist’s wife, Margaret – the same woman van Eyck painted in a separate secular portrait. I really like the iconography in this one. the Virgin Mary is seated on a wooden throne topped with a canopy, and there are four small brass lion figurines. this is a reference to the throne of Solomon, which had twelve lions flanking it and standing on the steps. the first pic here is from the "Speculum Humanae Salvationis" . and this is where it gets a bit strange: in that encyclopedia it says, "The throne of the true Solomon is the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in which sat Jesus Christ, the true wisdom." the composition is very similar to an altar. judging by the carvings, it was probably part of a triptych. Mary holds Christ on her lap, and he’s shown close-up and flattened, almost like the host during Mass. the white cloth underneath him, lying on top of Mary’s brighter dress, and the niche on the right – which looks like a piscina (where the water for washing the priest’s hands was kept) only reinforce this comparison. and, of course, the same symbols of Mary's purity that were on the Ghent altar - a jug and a pelvis. there’s also an indirect reference to heaven in this painting: some fruits, maybe oranges or apples, are shown on the windowsill. perhaps these fruits are a symbol of original sin. you have probably noticed that the sinful fruit is in one part of the altar, and the sinlessness of Mary is in the other. ohh how I love it.. van Eyck, u re a genius of religious symbolism🙏 I will never cease to admire the work of Jan van Eyck, it attracts me incredibly😔 I would never have thought that I would like the paintings of the Northern Renaissance.