Joos van Cleve was a Netherlandish painter active in the first half of the 16th century whose work to some extent reflects the influence of Italian art although it is primarily based on Flemish models. In the present panel Van Cleve depicts a theme that would subsequently become extremely popular in the 17th century. He shows the Christ Child in the foreground, posed in a sophisticated contrapposto and standing on the orb of the world, holding a cross in one hand and blessing with the other. The image evokes the idea of the Passion of Christ and that of the Christ Child as Saviour of mankind. Iconographically, it is inspired by classical culture, with Cupid with a sphere here referring to the love of Christ. In addition, it relates to images of Fortune, who generally has a ball at her feet symbolising instability. Italian influence is again evident in the slight sfumato of the figures derived from Leonardo da Vinci, while there are also allusions to Flemish painting in the landscape on the sphere that suggests Netherlandish artists such as Joachim Patinir.

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16th Century16th Century - Netherlandish paintingPaintingOilpanel
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