Triptych of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist

At the center the Virgin and Child sit enthroned beneath a canopy as the Child slips a ring onto Saint Catherine's finger, her mystic marriage, with Saint Barbara reading at right and the two Saints John standing by. The wings carry their stories: John the Baptist beheaded at Salome's request (Mark 6:21-28) on the left; on the right, John the Evangelist on Patmos, watching the Apocalypse break across sky and sea (Revelation). Painted for the hospital chapel of Saint John in Bruges, where it still hangs, this is Memling at his most jewel-like - luminous color, deep calm, every surface gently caressed.