Exeter Madonna

Exeter Madonna or Virgin and Child with Saint Barbara and Jan Vos are names given to a small oil-on-wood panel painting completed c. 1450[1] by the Early Netherlandish painter Petrus Christus.

[2] It shows Saint Barbara presenting a Carthusian monk identified as Jan Vos, to the Virgin Mary who holds the Christ Child in her arms.

The painting is set in a loggia reminiscent of the interior of Madonna of Chancellor Rolin by Jan van Eyck – complete with a row of floor tiles separating the earthly from the heavenly realms.

[10] The tradition of a donor kneeling before the Virgin is common in Early Netherlandish art, with van Eyck's Madonna of Chancellor Rolin perhaps the most notable example, which Christus would have seen.

The art historian Maryan Ainsworth writes that Christus pushed the figures into a corner, making it more intimate and utilizing asymmetrical angles characteristic of his work.

The viewer gazes on the Virgin from the same perspective as the kneeling monk, is drawn into the mood of the Sacra conversazione, which is emphasized by the richness of the world beyond the window.