Mary (after The Ghent Altarpiece)

Coxie employed multiple layers of glaze to achieve the luminous depth of Mary’s dark robes and the metallic sheen of her gold trim. The fine rendering of fabric folds and the delicate rendering of the starlit sky demonstrate mastery of northern oil techniques. The halo of Latin text, painted with precision, integrates calligraphy into the sacred imagery, a hallmark of his learned, humanist approach to religious subjects.

Commissioned during Coxie’s service to Philip II, the painting entered the Bavarian royal collection in the 18th century and was later transferred to the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. Its survival intact reflects its continued value as a devotional object and a testament to Habsburg cultural patronage. No significant alterations or restorations are documented, preserving its original surface and intent.

Created amid the religious upheavals of the Reformation, this work responds to Catholic efforts to reaffirm Marian veneration. Coxie’s adaptation of the Ghent Altarpiece’s imagery—originally by the Van Eycks—bridges early Netherlandish tradition with the emerging Mannerist sensibility. His Italian training informed the balanced composition, while the meticulous detail remained rooted in Flemish practice.

Coxie’s painting stands as an example of how northern artists reinterpreted iconic religious imagery for new political and spiritual contexts. Though less known than his contemporaries, his synthesis of Italian and Flemish styles influenced later court painters in Spain and the Low Countries. The work remains a quiet but significant artifact of 16th-century devotional culture.