London's National Gallery purchases a painting by an unknown artist for $20M

Summary

The National Gallery is celebrating its bicentenary with the acquisition of a most mysterious painting, an altarpiece with the Virgin and Child and two saints, dating from 1500-10. Although the subject matter is common, the iconography reveals that it was produced by an artist with a sense of humour. Not only do we not know the name of this master, but it is even unclear whether the artist was Netherlandish (from the Low Countries) or French.The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret and Two Angels was bought for just over $20m (around £16m at the time), funded by the American Friends of the National Gallery London. This represents a huge sum for a European painting by a totally unknown and unnamed artist, a reflection of its quality and importance. The acquisition was arranged through Sotheby’s as a private sale.The altarpiece was sold by a descendant of the family of Henry Blundell (1724-1810) and was until recently kept in Dorset, on the Lulworth Estate, home of the related Weld family. By 1803 the work had probably been bought by Blundell from the urban refuge of the abbey of Tronchiennes in Ghent, Belgium, where it was recorded in 1602. The altarpiece was probably originally commissioned for the refuge’s church, although this remains speculation.Gabriele Finaldi, the director of the National Gallery, tells The Art Newspaper that his predecessors had had their eye on the altarpiece “for decades”. It was finally acquired earlier this year.The altarpiece was last exhibited in 1960 and The Art Newspaper is now publishing it in colour for the first time. It has recently been shown privately to a dozen specialists, but there is no agreement on the identity of the artist. No other works by the same hand are known.Names that have been proposed in the past include Jan Gossaert, Aert Ortkens, Jean Hey, the Master of Saint Giles, and followers of Hugo van der Goes or Juan de Flandes. Whoever it was appears to have been influenced by the composition of Jan van Eyc...