Abstract
Roger Van der Weyden's painting represents the Virgin Mary and Baby Christ on the left and St Luke in the foreground of the painting on their right. She sits in front of a bench whose armrest is a carving of Adam and Eve with the serpent. She holds the Christ Baby in her arms, offering him her breast. The baby is looking up, smiling; his limbs are elongated and his skin is darker than the Virgin's. Beneath her is a long gold and red drapery on the wall, behind and above her. St Luke holds his drawing and wears bright red clothes. They are placed in an open room vertically divided in three parts by two columns in the middle. The space between the two columns stands for the doorframe and opens up to the middle ground. There is an additional foreground space on St Luke's right, an opening to another room in which we can catch sight of a writing desk under an open window and an ox underneath it.
