St Luke Drawing the Virgin
by GOSSART, Jan, Oil on oak panel, 230 x 205 cm
The painting comes from the Chapel of the Guild of St Luke in Sint-Romboutskerk, Mechelen. To the central panel with ogival-arch top, wings by Michiel Coxcie were added in the second half of the sixteenth century. Later it was on the main altar of St Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
Gossart painted two versions of the subject, this is the earlier one, the second is in Vienna. The Prague version is Gossart’s largest extant painting. The carefully planned architectural background is remarkable; in this painting Gossart presented the Guild of St Luke with the most up-to-date report on Roman art and architecture.
In his presentation of the theme, Gossart referred to a famous painting by Rogier van der Weyden. He placed his figures in the same relationship to each other, and likewise represented Luke as recording the details of the Virgin and Child in a metalpoint drawing.