Jan van Eyck: Madonna at the Fountain

Generous loan from the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunst, Antwerp

The painter Jan van Eyck is today considered to be the most significant Northern Renaissance artist of the 15th century. He was court painter to Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, and was patronized extensively by the Burgundian court. It is known from the historical record that van Eyck was considered a revolutionary master across northern Europe even within his own lifetime; his approach to painting was heavily copied by other painters. Van Eyck’s virtuoso technique exploiting the use of oils, light, sumptuous draperies, and an almost photographic realism, placed the visible world at the heart of his painting and changed perceptions forever. There are only about 25 paintings surviving today that can be confidently attributed to Jan van Eyck; the Madonna at the Fountain is one. Most of these are rarely permitted to travel, and it is therefore a unique and special opportunity to display a work by Jan van Eyck at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Madonna at the Fountain will appear in the exhibition Myth and Mystique: The Cleveland Table Fountain (October 9, 2016–February 26, 2017).

Madonna at the Fountain, 1439
Jan van Eyck (Flemish, 1390–1441)
Oil on panel; 19 x 12.5 cm
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunst, Antwerp  Inv. 411