ARTWORKS

The Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist

Maerten van Heemskerck (1498–1574)

The National Gallery, London

The Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Buy a print or image licence

You can purchase this reproduction

If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.

Order a print

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

A youthful Saint John the Evangelist supports a grey-faced and anguished Virgin Mary. This is one of two shutters from a triptych (a painting made up of three sections), which presumably flanked an image of the suffering Christ.The back is painted too, and shows a bishop holding an open book, standing above a shield with a coat of arms. Two keys hang from a cord on his left wrist. Aside from the shield beneath his feet, everything is rendered in tones of black, grey and white. The bishop's identity remains uncertain, though he may be Saint Peter, to whom Christ metaphorically gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven.The Virgin must have looked as if she was kneeling on the original frame, as did the donor in the other panel. The current frames are old but not original: they seem to have been replaced, for unknown reasons, while the shutters were still attached to the central panel.

The National Gallery, London

London

Read more on The National Gallery, London
Title

The Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist

Date

about 1540

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 123 x W 46 cm

Accession number

NG6508.1

Acquisition method

Bought, 1986

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Learn more Tag this
Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

View venue

Artist or maker

Maerten van Heemskerck

1498–1574

View profile
  • The Quails
    The Quails Ludlow Library & Museum Resource Centre
  • Christ Appearing to St Peter on the Sea of Tiberias
    Christ Appearing to St Peter on the Sea of Tiberias The Bowes Museum
  • Colossus of Rhodes
    Colossus of Rhodes The Courtauld Gallery
  • Margaretha Banken
    Margaretha Banken Manchester Art Gallery
  • Portrait of a Woman
    Portrait of a Woman National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff
  • An Allegory of Innocence and Guile
    An Allegory of Innocence and Guile The Bowes Museum
  • Self Portrait with the Colosseum, Rome The Fitzwilliam Museum
  • 5 more