New! Virgin and Child in a Landscape – Master of the Embroidered Foliage – Bouveret – Beautiful Catholic Art – Archival Quality

We thought this lovely picture of the serene Virgin and Child, who are seated outdoors because the whole world is their court, would help transport you to the contemplative state of mind that has filled our Catholic tradition.

The Master of the Embroidered Foliage was a Flemish painter (or group of painters) who worked in Bruges and Brussels from about 1480 to 1510. Known for exquisite landscapes that looked like tapestry, he (or they) crafted beautiful pictures of the Faith for the spiritual benefit of the faithful.

On the question of why Jesus looks like a small man instead of a baby, it’s not because the painters of this era hadn’t seen babies. They could and did paint a lot of chubby little babies. But making the baby Jesus look like a man was a theological statement. It emphasized his divine nature, of him being fully divine at the same time of being an actual baby boy.

(Unlike babies, these painters had not seen lions or rhinos, which is why their painted lions looked like big dogs, and their rhinos looked just bizarre.)

Notice in this picture, Jesus is rifling through the Bible on Mary’s lap. He’s doing that to show us that there are many prophecies in the Bible of his coming as the Messiah. Painted c. 1500. c. 1500. Oil on panel. 33 × 23 3/4 inches. Owned by the Philadelphia Museum.

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a blank border around the image. Approximately 0.5" wide for 5x7, 1.3" for 8.5x11, 1.6" for 11x14, and 1.75" for 13x17 and 16x20. For the two poster sizes, 18x24 and 24x36, we use 0.5" borders. We do this because the ratio of the rectangle of the art almost never matches the rectangle of the paper, and if it did happen to match one size, it would not match the others. Most fine art printers do this because otherwise they’d have to crop the art or warp it to make it fit the paper. The border looks good. It gives the picture a faux matted appearance.

There is almost always a little more border either on the left-right sides, or the top-bottom, depending on whether the ratio of the art is wider or taller than the paper.

We make Archival Quality fine art prints:

– Acid-free paper

– Archival pigments

– Cardboard backer for sizes 11x14 and less.

– Above story of the art

– Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal-clear bag.

– Rated to last 200+ years without fading if kept dry and out of the direct sun.

Thanks for your interest!

+JMJ+

Sue & John

Lincoln, Nebraska

“In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art.”

~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and any image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson – Classic Catholic Art.