Representations of The Virgin Mary in The Netherlands
Responding to the devotion and worship of the Virgin in Europe during the Middle Ages, the early Flemish painters produced numerous images of Mary. At the end of the 15th and 16th centuries, and up until the Council of Trent (1545–1563), the representations of the "Virgin of Milk" were popular in the Netherlands.
Rogier van der Weyden, the presumed creator of Our Lady of Bethlehem, was a Flemish painter of fame and prestige in the 15th century. In 1435 he left his home town of Tournai to settle in Brussels, where he was named the premier painter of the city. None of the paintings attributed to him are signed.
The interest in his art was not limited to the region of Brussels. He received orders from distant regions such as Italy, Savoy, cities along the Rhine, and Spain.
It is possible that van der Weyden's painting Our Lady of Bethlehem was taken to one of the convents of the Dominicans in Spain, and then later he took it with him on his trip to the Dominican friars who founded the first convent in Old San Juan.
Read more about this topic: Our Lady Of Bethlehem
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