Hans Memling, Diptych of Maarten van Nieuwenhove, 1487

The twenty-three-year-old Maarten van Nieuwenhove, with a promised future as becoming the burgomaster of Bruges in ten years, visits Mary and infant Jesus. Placing the Virgin and Child in the same contemporary scene as the donor, Hans Memling painted this diptych to testify the piousness of this young Maarten van Nieuwenhove.

The Virgin offers infant Christ an apple, the symbol of the forbidden fruit that results the Fall of Adam and Eve from Eden. Reaching for the apple, Jesus accepts the destiny that he, as the redeemer of humanity from original sin, will create a new world order.

Painted on two separated panels, the three figures, especially the donor, are fully portrayed without obstructing the whole scene. However, in order to convince viewers, Memling deliberately depicted several details to suggest Maarten, the Virgin and the Child are in one contemporary space, which would have to credit the development of Renaissance Scientific Naturalism during that period. The convex mirror behind the Virgin shows a rear view of the two figures - the Virgin is seen from behind and the donor is silhouetted against the window. In addition, the same carpet crosses the foreground of both panels, and Maarten's prayer book rests on the end of Virgin's robe, which overflows from the left panel to the right. Altogether with the Virgin painted from the front and the donor appears in three-quarter view, the diptych would form an enclosed space if viewers could imagine that the two coherent panels fold towards each other in a certain angle. And the viewer, who is implied to be located in the same space, looks into the double the double panel as if through an open window. Astonishing design.

Oh, and a post-script: The colorful stained-glass windows on both panels suggest this is painted for van Nieuwenhove family.