Virgin and Child with Angels

Metsys was the leading painter in early sixteenth-century Antwerp. He learnt much from earlier Netherlandish painters such as Jan van Eyck. The Gothic interior surrounding the Virgin in this painting reflects van Eyck’s minutely realistic style. Details such as the playful putti (cupids), straining to hold a garland of flowers above Mary’s head, also show Metsys’s awareness of contemporary northern Italian painting. It is likely that he travelled to Italy during his apprenticeship.