"Lamb of God" by a Follower of Robert Campin at National Gallery of Art

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
Follower of Robert Campin Anonymous Artist Campin, Robert Netherlandish, c. 1375 - 1444 Madonna and Child with Saints in the Enclosed Garden c. 1440/1460 oil on panel painted surface: 119.8 x 148.5 cm (47 3/16 x 58 7/16 in.) overall (panel): 122.2 x 151.2 cm (48 1/8 x 59 1/2 in.)
WASHINGTON, DC---This large panel painting by a follower of Robert Campin combines the new interest in nature of the fifteenth-century Netherlandish artists with a long tradition of symbolic religious painting. John the Baptist holds a lamb, recalling his recognition of Christ as the "Lamb of God." Seated on the left is Catherine of Alexandria with her sword and wheel, the instruments of her martyrdom. Saint Barbara offers Jesus an apple or a quince, an age-old symbol of love. To early Christian and medieval theologians, Mary became associated with this bride, and the enclosed garden symbolized her virginity and also the lost Eden which is regained through Christ's birth. Even the doorway recalls Christ's saying, "I am the door. No man cometh unto the Father but by me." [link]