Ambrosius Benson
The Virgin and Child with Saint AnneOn Display | NATIONAL GALLERY OF SCOTLAND
In this painting the Virgin and her mother, St. Anne, sit side by side. They offer the Christ Child an apple, a reference to the forbidden fruit Eve offered Adam in the Garden of Eden. It is also a symbol of the burden of the sins of mankind that Christ will bear. Benson’s elegant figures are painted with rich colours using his typically delicate touch, and both the Virgin and her mother are given equal compositional importance. This results in a superbly balanced image. In the left background, an angel draws water from the Fountain of Life. Benson was renowned for such small scale devotional pieces, teeming with incident and detail.
Glossary [2] Open
Composition
The arrangement of different elements in a work of art.
Devotional art
Religious images used privately as a focus of prayer or an aid to meditation.
- Accession no. NG 2024
- Medium Oil on panel
- Size Ogee top: 80.70 x 59.10 cm
- Credit Purchased 1945
Ambrosius Benson (Netherlandish, active 1519 - died 1550)
Benson was born in Lombardy, but moved to Bruges in the southern Netherlands after spending some time in Spain. He arrived in Bruges in 1518, and by the following year he had gained entry into the local guild of painters as an independent master. Benson was already a successful painter of portraits and altarpieces prior to his arrival, but in Bruges he worked for a short time in the studio of Gerard David. His paintings owe much to David’s style, but also reflect the art of his native Lombardy and the painters who worked there, such as Leonardo. Benson was enormously successful; his reputation brought him public commissions and his work was extremely sought after, fetching high prices.
Glossary [3] Open
Altarpiece
An artwork behind a church altar featuring religious scenes or imagery which was usually the focus for the celebration of the Mass.
Commission
When an individual or organisation employs an artist to execute a particular project, the process and the resulting work are termed a ‘commission’.
Guild
Associations of craftsmen and tradesmen. From the Renaissance, painters and sculptors formed academies instead, in order to increase the intellectual and professional standing of artists.