Petrus Christus (Netherlandish, active by 1444–1475/76) | A Goldsmith in his Shop |

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Our final Netherlandish Art Moment for the week is "Virgin and Child in a Domestic Interior," circa 1406-1467, by the Flemish painter Petrus Christus. This painting is one of the masterpieces of the Nelson-Atkins collection. The realism of the meticulously rendered domestic interior, with its closely observed details-such as the chandelier and canopy bed-is typical of the Northern Renaissance. Typical of Devotio Moderna, a 15th-century religious reform movement that prefigured the Protestant Reformation, the focus is on the individual's direct experience of God in everyday life, without Church ritual or a priest to mediate. The townscape glimpsed through the windows is reminiscent of the buildings of Bruges, the artist's native city, which looks much the same today. The triangular shape created by the contours of Virgin and Child may reflect the Italian Renaissance ideas of order, geometry and balance, an influence exchanged through trading links between Bruges and Italy. On view in Gallery P7.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

“Treasures and Talismans: Rings from the Griffin Collection” is now on view at The Cloisters museum and gardens. The rings featured in this exhibition come from the Griffin Collection, named after the mythical creature that is part lion and part eagle. http://met.org/1F4oD5U

Petrus Christus (Netherlandish, active by 1444–1475/76) | A Goldsmith in his Shop | 1449