Virgin and Child with Saints

Denys Calvaert focused almost exclusively on religious scenes and while he produced some excellent life-size altarpieces, he was arguably at his best when working on a smaller format, particularly on copper. This signed and dated example depicts the Virgin and Child with Sts Catherine, Dominic and the Infant St John the Baptist, a landscape beyond. It is from the artist’s most successful period and includes all his most admired features: vibrant colours, movement and pathos in the figures, sharp foreshortening, and the landscape upper right, which extends all the way to the horizon.

The painting is signed and dated upper left: 1592 / DIONISIO CALV…RT / FIANDERESE.