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'The Virgin and Child with St Elizabeth and the Child Baptist'
'Self-portrait as a young man', Rembrandt van Rijn
'The Magdalen', Paulus Bor
'View of Dordrecht', Jan van Goyen
'Landscape with the ashes of Phocion', Nicolas Poussin
'River scene with a ferry boat', Salomon van Ruysdael
'The New Church at Delft', Hendrik Cornelisz van Vliet
'Virgin and Child in Glory', Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
'King Charles II', Godfrey Kneller
Roman Catholic Church Silver, Belgium

'The Virgin and Child with St Elizabeth and the Child Baptist', Rubens

A young child sits on his mothers knee. An older woman and her child, whose hand guides a lamb, look towards the child. The people are surrounded by strong classical architecture.

Oil on canvas, 180 x 139.5cm

Accession Number WAG4097

Between 1600 and 1608 the Flemish artist Rubens visited Italy and Spain. On his return to Antwerp he was immediately recognised as the most distinguished master in Flanders. He was made court painter to Archduke Albert, Regent of the Netherlands. He acted as artistic and diplomatic ambassador to the Archduke helping to conduct peace talks between England and Spain.

In this work, the two children may have been modelled on his own sons by his second wife, Helena Fourment, whom he married in 1630. This work was enormously popular. Many copies and variations as well as engravings of this subject by Rubens were made, bringing it to a wide audience.

Purchased with the help of the National Art Collections Fund.