Madonna at the Fountain

It retains its original frame, which bears the inscription; "ALS IXH CAN", "JOHES DE EYCK ME FECIT + [COM]PLEVIT ANNO 1439 At 19 x 12 cm.

The Christ Child holds prayer beads in his left hand, suggesting, along with the rose bush behind the figures, the rosary.

The use of red for the clothes of sacred figures was characteristic of 15th century Netherlandish painting, as cochineal was among the most expensive pigments available for dying textiles.

[5][6] It is possible that the Byzantine flavour to these images was also connected with contemporary attempts through diplomacy to achieve reconciliation with the Greek Orthodox Church, in which van Eyck's patron Philip the Good took a keen interest.

Van Eyck's Portrait of Cardinal Niccolò Albergati (c. 1431) had depicted one of the diplomats most involved with these efforts, acting for the Papacy.

Madonna at the Fountain (1439), oil on panel, 19 x 12 cm (7.5 x 4.75 in). Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten , Antwerp.
Gerard David , Virgin and Child with Four Angels , c. 1510–15. 63.2 cm × 39.1 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art .