# Madonna and Child at the Fountain [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [EYCK, Jan van]() - Date: 1401-1450 - Technique: Oil on wood, 19 x 12 cm ## Commentary The small panel is signed and dated on a marbled frame: 'IOH\(ann\)ES DE EYCK ME FECIT C\(om\)PLEVIT AN\(n\)O 1439'. However, the datation is debated. The painting is assumed by some scholars to be earlier \(c. 1425-30\) and the 1439 is only the date of completion and framing. The attention which Van Eyck focused upon the tender embrace of mother and child is characteristic of late-medieval devotion. The artist depicts the paradisiacal garden and other symbols of the Virgin such as the fountain, the rose and the iris. Angels hold up a gorgeous brocade cloth behind the mother and child as a symbol of honour. The symbolism of the colours used in the painting serve to heighten its spiritual message. ## Related artworks - [Annunciation]() - [Annunciation]() - [Crucifixion]() - [Diptych]() - [Last Judgment]() - [Madonna in the Church \(detail\)]() - [Madonna in the Church]() - [Madonna with the Child Reading]() - [Man in a Turban \(detail\)]() - [Man in a Turban]() - [Portrait of a Goldsmith \(Man with Ring\)]() - [Portrait of a Man with Carnation]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()