The Fifteen Mysteries and the
Virgin of the Rosary, Netherlandish
Painter (possibly Goswijn van der Weyden, active by 1491, died after 1538),
about 1515–20 ■ Depicted
in this miniature altarpiece are the fifteen mysteries associated with the
Virgin's life: five joyful, five sorrowful, and five glorious. The scene at the
base seems related to a popular legend of a miracle that saved a man from his
captors: the Christ Child unfurls a rosary of white and red roses made from
blossoms that issue from the man's mouth each time he recites a Hail Mary. The
picture includes a topographical view of the park and Coudenberg Palace of the
dukes of Brabant in Brussels and must have been commissioned for a member of
the Habsburg court, possibly the lords of Ravensteyn. The artist proposed as
the possible author was Rogier van der Weyden's grandson ■ Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
