While exploring the Staatliche Museum in Berlin, I became enthralled with the painting “Virgin and Child” (the central panel of the “Triptych of Benedetto Portinari”) by the Northern Renaissance German artist Hans Memling. I had seen the portrait of “Saint Benedict” (left wing) while in Florence, and when I returned to California I was able to study the right wing of the triptych, the portrait of “Benedetto Portinari” (on display at the Huntington Museum). Normally a patron would include his wife when a triptych was commissioned, rather than their patron saint, so I decided to imagine Benedetto’s wife, and create a “lost” panel to replace the left wing. I employed the style, size and media of the original triptych.
