The Charterhouse of Bruges

For the first time in 24 years and only the second time in their history, two early Netherlandish masterpieces commissioned by the Carthusian monk Jan Vos will be reunited. These works – the Virgin and Child with St. Barbara, St. Elizabeth, and Jan Vos, commissioned from Jan van Eyck, and The Virgin and Child with St. Barbara and Jan Vos, painted by Petrus Christus and now in the Gemäldegalerie – will be shown with a selection of Carthusian objects that place them in the monastic context for which they were created.

Though different in scale, the Frick and Exeter Virgins are remarkably similar in composition and execution. Both scenes depict Vos being introduced to the Virgin and Child by Saint Barbara, and are set within elaborate porticos opening on a panoramic cityscape. Kneeling on holy ground removed from the city below, Vos exemplifies the Carthusian ideal of isolation from the world. Find out more about the ‘The Charterhouse of Bruges’ exhibition from The Frick’s website.

Preview the exhibition below | See Apollo’s Picks of the Week here

The Virgin and Child with St. Barbara and Jan Vos (c. 1450), Petrus Christus. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie

Portrait of a Carthusian Lay Brother (1446), Petrus Christus. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Virgin and Child with St. Barbara, St. Elizabeth, and Jan Vos (c. 1441–43), Jan van Eyck. The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Michael Bodycomb