The Virgin and Child Enthroned is a small oil-on-oak panel painting dated c. 1433, usually attributed to the Early Netherlandish artist Rogier van der Weyden, and closely related to his Madonna Standing. The panel is filled with Christian iconography, including representations of prophets, the Annunciation, Christ's infancy and resurrection, and Mary's Coronation. It is generally accepted as the earliest extant work by van der Weyden, one of three works attributed to him of the Virgin and Child enclosed in a niche on an exterior wall of a Gothic church. The panel is housed in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, in Madrid. It seems to be the left-hand wing of a dismantled diptych, perhaps with the Saint George and the Dragon panel now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. As an early van der Weyden, it takes influence from Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck. Van der Weyden served his apprenticeship under Campin, and the older master's style is noticeable in the architecture of the niche and in the Virgin's face, hair and exposed breast.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_and_Child_Enthroned_(van_der_Weyden)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

421:

Roman emperor Theodosius II married Aelia Eudocia, who later helped protect Greek pagans and Jews from persecution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aelia_Eudocia

1628:

The Petition of Right, a major English constitutional document that set out specific liberties of the subject, was granted royal assent by Charles I. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petition_of_Right

1917:

First World War: The British Army detonated 19 ammonal mines under the German lines, killing 10,000 in the deadliest non-nuclear man- made explosion in history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines_(1917)

1938:

Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese Nationalist government destroyed dikes holding the Yellow River in an attempt to halt the rapid advance of Japanese forces, causing a flood that killed at least 400,000 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_Yellow_River_flood

1981:

The Israeli Air Force attacked and disabled the Osirak nuclear reactor, assuming it was producing plutonium to further an Iraqi nuclear weapons program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

atrocious: 1. Frightful, evil, cruel, or monstrous. 2. Offensive or heinous. 3. Very bad; abominable, disgusting. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/atrocious

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

we are each other's harvest: we are each other's business: we are each other's magnitude and bond   --Gwendolyn Brooks https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gwendolyn_Brooks