School of Bruges, circa 1520 The Marriage of the Virgin, oil on panel, 77.5 x 35 cm, framed ÜBERLANGTEXT Provenance: sale, Piasa, Paris, 17 December 1997, lot 2; sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 30 March 2000, lot 182 (as Jan Provoost); Private collection, Vienna The present panel, although characteristic of the Bruges school of painting, with late gothic folds of the figures’ drapery and general register, exhibits some of the compositional influence of Albrecht Dürer, whose 1521 visit to Flanders had a dramatic impact on workshop models. This can be seen in in the innovative recessional format with the heavy arch above giving way to the temple behind. Joseph here holds the rod, which in the legend sprouted flowers to show him worthy of betrothal to the virgin, while the High Priest, rather than being simply clothed as a contemporary bishop, as was common, has a vaguely oriental headdress, which also shows an awareness of the studies Dürer made after Venetian works showing the costumes of the Islamic world.