ALTARPIECE OF OUR LADY OF BETHLEHEM

ICONOGRAPHY 

The Virgin plays a very important role in the three main scenes on the altarpiece. To the left of the central vertical register we'll see the episode about the Annunciation with which the Incarnation of Christ begins. This will make human redemption possible through the Crucifixion of Jesus to which the left vertical register is dedicated and in which the Virgin Mary exhibits her anguish before the Death of Our Saviour in this sort of shared Passion that is so tremendously present in Flemish art.

The central vertical register holds the image of the figure after whom the altarpiece is named, the Nursing Virgin, in which Mary succours the Holy Infant, thus strengthening the maternal bond that justifies her transcendence. Proof of this is the subject reserved for the attic of the altarpiece in which God, the Holy Father rewards her virtues in the Coronation scene, ratifying the Virgin as the model to be followed by the faithful.

All these messages are emphasised and complemented by the reliefs depicting passages from the Old and New Testament surrounding the most important motifs.