Master of the Embroidered Foliage, Virgin and Child in a Landscape, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

A Medieval Mystery: Was There a Master of the Embroidered Foliage?

Saturday, January 22, 2005—Sunday, May 1, 2005
Gallery 342
Free Exhibition

This exhibition brings together for the first time four of the seven known versions of the Master of the Embroidered Foliage's hallmark image from public and private collections in the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and France. The fifteenth-century Netherlandish painter--so named for the delicately patterned and crisply executed blades of grass and plants that resemble embroidery in his paintings--is best known for his panel paintings of the Virgin and Child with a book. Virtually identical in composition, these works feature Mary in voluminous robes sitting on a throne while the Christ child in her arms leafs precociously through the pages of an illuminated manuscript. The Master's panels differ in their settings and other decorative details, however. Some feature landscape backgrounds while others show city streets. Angels, peacocks, or contemporary burghers embellish the pictures alternatively. Rich in palette and pattern, the panels are finely painted with an eye for detail characteristic of Northern Renaissance painters of this era, which include Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1399-1464), upon whose works the Master's are based.

This exhibition has been 
organized by the 
Musée des Beaux Arts, Lille, and the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in 
association with The 
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 
under the auspices of FRAME 
(French Regional and American Museum Exchange).

This exhibition is made possible with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Exhibitions Endowment Fund.

Visit the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute's online exhibition, "Medieval Mystery: Who is the Master of the Embroidered Foliage?".