Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele

The panel is noted for the finery of clothing, including exquisite representations of furs, silks and brocades, and the elaborate and detailed religious iconography.

The Virgin's throne is decorated with carved representations of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, prefigurations of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, and scenes from the Old Testament.

[1] Joris van der Paele is identifiable both from his resemblance and by the paternal and maternal coat of arms at the corners of each frame.

[2] He was born in Bruges around 1370, and spent his early career as a papal scribe in Rome before returning to his native city in 1425 as a wealthy man.

[4] An illness around 1431[5] left van der Paele unable to fulfil the functions of his office, and led him to reflect upon his position as canon and on his mortality.

A second chaplaincy in 1443[7] centred on prayers for his family,[8] and guaranteed that after his death, the requiem mass would end with readings of the Miserere mei and De profundis.

Most likely the work was situated in the nave as an accompaniment to an altar for Saints Peter and Paul and used for memorial masses for van der Paele and his family.

It retains its original oak frame,[15] which contains several Latin inscriptions, including van Eyck's signature, the date of completion, the donor's name, and texts related to St. George and St. Donatian.

The precision of the detail achieved is especially noticeable in the rendering of threads of St. Donatian's blue and golden embroidered cope and mitre, in the weave of the oriental carpet, and in the stubble and veins on van der Paele's aging face.

"[18] The intimacy is further enhanced by small details such as the overlap between the donor and Saint George, who casts a shadow on van der Paele[19] and seems to have accidentally stepped on his surplice as he leans forward to introduce the canon to the Virgin.

[24] The Virgin sits on an elevated throne, situated beneath a minutely detailed and extravagantly decorated brocade baldachin containing white rose patterns, symbolising her purity.

[24] A similar approach can be seen in the later Dresden Triptych, but that work contains a better handling of spatial depth; Mary's throne is moved back, and the donors and saints are relegated to wing panels.

[27] The Child has curly blond hair and sits on a white cloth, animated and upright, at the side of the Virgin's lap.

[8] St. George stands in lavishly decorated armour, and appears relaxed and nonchalant, raising his helmet and left hand to introduce van der Paele.

[31] George's armour is similar to that of St. Michael in van Eyck's Dresden Triptych, while his steel shield resembles those in the Knights of Christ panel of the Ghent altarpiece.

The artist depicts himself standing at his easel, in a manner that strongly resembles the self-portrait reflected in the mirror in his Arnolfini Portrait.

[35][36] The painting marks a departure from conventional and contemporary European epitaphs by placing the saints and mortal donor within the same pictorial space.

This is intentional, an indication that he is, in the words of art historian Bret Rothstein, "disconnected from the perceptible world", and fully absorbed in the spiritual realm.

[38] In keeping with the conventions of late medieval art, van der Paele does not look directly at any of the heavenly figures, but stares into the middle distance, observing social and spiritual decorum.

[39] Van Eyck does not shy from showing the physical effects of the canon's illness, including worn, crevassed and tired skin, weak vision, enlarged temporal arteries and swollen fingers.

[30] The Child's white cloth is draped over Mary's red robe, which may represent veiled host during celebration of the Eucharist; a reference to Christ's death and resurrection.

Reflecting a consensus among art historians, Ward interprets the contradictions as "either curiously incoherent or deliberately designed to enact a complex symbolic message.

"[29] Mary holds a stem that appears to grow from the parrot's feathers, culminating in a bouquet of red, white and blue flowers.

[50] The carvings on the architectural capitals depict Old Testament scenes, including the meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek and the Sacrifice of Isaac.

[7] Mary's robe is embroidered with Latin text, taken from the Wisdom of Solomon 7:29: Est enim haec speciosior sole et super omnem stellarum dispositionem.

In 1547 Mary of Hungary, Governess of the Spanish Netherlands, wanted to buy it for her collection, but the chapter politely refused, saying this would create "moans, protests, uproar and complaints" from the people.

During a spate of Calvinist mob iconoclasm in 1578 it was moved to a private house for safety, and by 1600 it had been given a setting with side wings and now formed the main altarpiece, replacing a destroyed metalwork retable of the 14th century.

[58] The painting was acquired, along with many other Netherlandish and Flemish works, by the Musée du Louvre in 1794,[14] during the plundering of the estates of aristocrats in the years of the French revolutionary army's occupation of the Southern Netherlands.

Other works acquired in this way include the centre panels of van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece, Hans Memling's Moreel Triptych and Gerard David's Judgement of Cambyses.

The set piece of Van Eyck's enthroned Virgin, with a distracted Child on her lap was both widely copied, and became a standard for the following 150 years.