Diptych of Philip de Croÿ with The Virgin and Child

Crop of the Virgin and Child panel, showing the halo built from golden beams of light radiating outwards from his head

In the early 15th century Mary grew in importance as possible intercessor with God with members of the Catholic faith. The concept of purgatory as an intermediary state that each human soul had to pass through before they were admitted to heaven, was at its height. It was thought that the length each person would need to suffer in limbo was proportional to their display of devotion while on earth.[8] Prayer was the most obvious means of decreasing time in limbo, while the more well off substituted by commissioning churches or extensions or artworks, or devotional portraits. Mary, although under represented in the gospels, developed a cult that gathered from the 13th century, mostly built on the idea of the Immaculate Conception and her ascension into heaven. Thus, in a culture that venerated the possession of relics as a means to bring the earthly closer to the divine, Mary could have left no bodily relics, thus assuming a special position between heaven and humanity.[9]

The veneration that developed around her in this period lead to a high demand for donor portraits with the commissioner shown in devotion. Van der Weyden responded with half length Marian portraits which echoed in style and colour the Byzantine icons then popular in Italy as "miracle" working paintings. The format became extremely popular in the north, and his innovation is a major contributing reason for the emergence of Marian and after more general devotional diptychs as a lasting format of Early Netherlandish painting.[5]

Mary is shown against a gilded background, holding the infant Christ's hand. She wears a dark hooded cloak or veil over a red dress. The infant stands unsteadily on a highly decorated and embroidered red and yellow cushion. He is shown as restless and energetic, toying with the clasps of a prayer book.[5] Both figures have golden halos which radiate outwards as if beams of light. Mary shares many of the idealised facial features seen in late period van der Weyden depictions of the Madonna; she has olive eyes, a high forehead, and symmetrical, arched eyebrows.[10]

The painting first emerged in 1892 as part of Henry Willett's collection in Brighton. It passed through the Kann collection in Paris, and is today on display at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California.[11]

Crest shown on the reverse of de Croÿ's panel

De Croÿ is shown in half length, wearing a high neck dark purple doublet with fur lining. His hands are folded in prayer. He holds a pearled rosary between his thumbs and index fingers, the stones of which reflect the light falling on him. One end of the string ends with a gold braided tassel, the other with a gilded crucifix.[5] The portrait is set against a background of pleated green cloth, which has been laid down on silver leaf in slim layers of verdigris glaze. The quality, subtlety and craftsmanship behind the subtlety was only revealed in a recent restoration; previously the area was covered by layers of accumulated dirt, and it had been thought that the portrait was set against a simple dark plane.[5] The background is decorated with a monograph which has not yet been positively identified, although it does appear in manuscripts that Philip owned.[2]

Van der Weyden flatters his sitter by endeavouring to conceal the young Belgian's large nose and undershot jaw, presenting a picture of a refined and pious nobleman.[12] The artist typically dignified his sitters by depicted elongated facial features, delicate fingers and other idealised features which the subject may not have been blessed with in life.[13] This tendency can be seen in the description of de Croÿ's strong jaw and sculpted nose.

The painting can be approximately dated to from the late 1450s to early 1460s by de Croÿ's haircut, which is long at the front and above the ears but shaved at the side and below the ears. He wears a clipped and straight length fringe; a monkish fashion popular amongst male Burgundian nobles during this period. The high cut below the ear is similar to that seen worn by Nicolas Rolin in Jan van Eyck's c 1935 Madonna of Chancellor Rolin, however de Croÿ's side cut is not as severe or pronounced, and is accompanied by a longer fringe too daring for even a few years earlier. This is assuming that the sitter is Burgundian and not a foreign visitor; the identifying crest on the outer wings as well as his pointed Northern European facial features argue against this possibility.[14]