Lucca Madonna
ca. 1437
Jan van Eyck’s 'Lucca Madonna' is a masterclass in Early Netherlandish detail, featuring the Virgin Mary draped in an impossibly rich, voluminous red velvet robe that cascades over her throne. She tenderly nurses the infant Jesus, a surprisingly intimate and humanizing moment for a religious icon of the 1430s. Notice the intricate, jewel-encrusted canopy behind her and the meticulously rendered brass basin on the right—van Eyck was obsessed with capturing how light hits different textures. The painting gets its name from the Italian city of Lucca, where it hung for centuries before art historians realized it was a Flemish masterpiece all along!
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