# St Luke Painting the Virgin Mary [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [VOS, Marten de]() - Date: 1551-1600 - Technique: Oil on panel, 270 x 217 cm ## Commentary Maarten De Vos, who founded the fraternity of Romanists in Antwerp, was Frans Floris' best pupil and successor. His works are clear precursors of the 17th century Baroque. The Saint Luke painting the Virgin Mary is a late work by De Vos who died in 1603. His rich and varied use of colour might be attributable to the six years he spent in Florence, Rome and Venice \(where he studied with Tintoretto\); his paintings are clear, balanced and often symmetrical in composition, and despite his preference for shallow spaces, he succeeded in creating a strong sense of drama and plasticity. On the other hand, although a Lutheran for a long time, De Vos was also a figure-head of the Counter Reformation. The best evidence of this is to be found in the monumental scale of his works and his strict adherence to the iconographical precepts laid down by the Council of Trent. ## Related artworks - [Allegory of the Seven Liberal Arts]() - [Christ Triumphant over Death and Sin]() - [Nativity]() - [Portrait of Antonius Anselmus, His Wife and Their Children]() - [Return from the Flight to Egypt]() - [Scene from the Life of the Virgin]() - [St Paul Bitten by a Viper on the Island of Malta]() - [The Emperor's Toll]() - [The Family of St Anne \(detail\)]() - [The Family of St Anne]() - [The Marriage at Cana]() - [The Rape of Europa]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()