Rogier van der Weyden | Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin, 1435-40

Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin is a large oil and tempera on oak panel painting, usually dated between 1435-1440, attributed to the Early Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400 - 1464).

The painting is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

According to tradition, Saint Luke created the first portraits of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus from life, making him the patron saint of painters.

Here, in one of the most important Renaissance paintings in North America, Rogier van der Weyden introduces an unprecedented sense of naturalism, grounding a sacred episode in everyday experience.

Victorine Meurent | Manet’s favorite model / painter

Victorine Meurent was Manet’s favorite model in the 1860s, posing for Street Singer, in the MFA’s collection, as well as for such other renowned works as Olympia and Luncheon on the Grass (both now in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris).

Victorine Louise Meurent (February 18, 1844 - March 17, 1927) was a French painter and a famous model for painters.

Although she is best known as the favourite model of Édouard Manet, she was also an artist in her own right who regularly exhibited at the prestigious Paris Salon.

Victorine Meurent | Autoportrait, 1876 | Boston Museum of Fine Arts