[Magdalen] Art Question

Jay Weigel jay.weigel at gmail.com
Sun Nov 4 21:30:18 UTC 2018


O ye of wide-ranging knowledge....I have a question that perhaps you can
answer. I have come across a charming early Renaissance painting I would
love to know more about, particularly the name of the painter. It is called
"The Naming of John" and features on one side three ladies standing, one
(Elizabeth. perhaps?) who holds a swaddled but unbabylike infant and is
pointing at him...she also looks very tired, which is why I wonder if she
us the mother. Behind her stands another older woman dressed in dark
clothing, possibly the midwife, and beside her, dressed in pink, looking at
the baby and smiling in a bemused way, is another, younger woman (perhaps
Mary....did she stay with Elizabeth until John was born?). Sitting in front
of them and writing industriously on a strip of parchment (in Latin, no
less!) is Zacharias, dressed in a red robe with a pink headdress.  The
artist is listed as "Witz, K" with no further details.

Does anyone know anything about the painting or the artist? I would assume
it to be German or Flemish, and judging from the clothing, late 14th or
early 15th century.


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