Miraflores Altarpiece

It is notable for its use of colour, distinguished by its use of whites, reds and blues, and use of line—notably the line of Christ's body in the central panel—and, typically of van der Weyden, its emotional impact.

The front of each frame contains the facing of a step, which, according to art historian Jeffrey Chipps Smith, implies "the viewer's proximity to, and potential for imaginatively entering into, the divine stage.

[11][12] The different colours of Mary's robes in each panel bear symbolic meaning; the white, red and blues are intended to depict her three traditional virtues; respectively purity, compassion and perseverance.

[13] The framing arch of each panel is historiated, containing a series of small but highly detailed and symbolic protruding or raised marble statues which augment the narrative of the particular episode from Christ's life.

[3] The triptych is often associated with van der Weyden's other John the Baptist altarpiece as both utilise imagined stone reliefs both as framing devices and as a means to develop on the main theme of the particular panel.

They are fantastic rather than realistic, serving as a device to include the small relief figures located in the archivolts which reflect on and accentuate the narrative and theme of the panel on which they appear.

; My soul doth magnify the Lord....[14] This panel was long assumed to be a Nativity until described by art historian Erwin Panofsky as a simple representation of the Holy Family.

[3] The right-hand panel shows the moment (not in any of the Gospels) when Christ appears to his mother after his Resurrection, which is repeated at a smaller scale in the distance through the open doorway at rear.

The artist uses a number of pictorial devices to suggest the approach of the risen Christ, including the winding path, the doors which open inwards, and the exterior light falling on the interior tiles.

"[18] More recent studies of the under-drawing and paint show that the Granada/New York version was executed after the Berlin panels,[9] while dendrochronological examination of the oak carried out in 1982 dates it after 1492; van der Weyden is known to have died in 1464.

Van der Weyden's c. 1455 Saint John Altarpiece . Gemäldegalerie, Berlin . This triptych is linked to the Miraflores in its shared symbolic motifs, most notably the winding pathway, doorway and perspective tiles. [ 12 ]
Posthumous portrait of Queen Isabel of Castile . Her father John II knew Jan van Eyck who had died by the time the painting was commissioned. Instead, John enlisted van der Weyden. It is believed that Isabel was so impressed by the work that she, in turn, commissioned a copy (now in New York) from a member of van der Weyden's workshop or a follower. [ 17 ]