Madonna Surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim

Madonna Surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim, painting that was made as the right-hand panel of The Melun Diptych, created by French artist Jean Fouquet in about 1450. The diptych was commissioned by Étienne Chevalier for the church at his home in Melun, France.

The left-hand panel of the diptych depicts Chevalier with St. Stephen and is now housed at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The right-hand panel, Madonna Surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim, shows the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child on her knee. She wears an ermine gown and a crown of pearls and other precious stones and is seated on a sumptuously decorated throne, showing her in her role as Queen of Heaven. She is said to be modeled after Agnès Sorel, mistress of King Charles VII. She has the bulging, shaved forehead fashionable at this period, and her flattering dress and waspish waist all lend credence to the supposition that Sorel is the model. The Madonna is an arresting figure, with one breast bare. Her breasts are abnormally placed, and the background is made up of rather flat-looking red seraphim and blue cherubim. This, along with the vivid coloring and her extreme beauty, gives the picture a strangely modern feel.

The diptych remained in the church in Melun until 1775, when Madonna Surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim was sold to a collector in Antwerp, Belgium. The painting was bequeathed to Antwerp’s Koninklijk Museum in 1841 but was not recognized as a significant artwork until the 20th century.