Rogier van der Weyden 1399/1400 – 1464

St Luke Drawing the Virgin

oil and tempera on panel (137 × 111 cm) — 1435 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Rogier van der Weyden biography

Also known as the St Luke Madonna.

The scene is not mentioned in the Bible. Luke probably was not even born at the time of Jesus's birth, let alone that he could have painted the Madonna as the panel suggests.

Centuries later a legend developed telling that Luke once painted the Virgin. For that reason he became the patron of artists.

There are several copies of this panel. The one in Boston is considered to be the original.

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