The National Gallery in London has acquired a rare 500-year-old altarpiece titled The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret and Two Angels for £16.4 million (approximately $20 million). Despite the artist's identity remaining unknown, the painting is considered of "outstanding importance" due to its exceptional quality and unique iconography.Created between 1500 and 1510 on oak felled around 1483, the artwork features unusual elements such as a crying dragon, a child displaying his behind, and an angel playing a Jew’s harp—details that suggest the work of a highly inventive, possibly Netherlandish or French, artist.
First documented at the Drongen priory in Ghent in 1602, the altarpiece later became part of British private collections, including the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The National Gallery purchased the piece through Sotheby’s with support from the American Friends of the National Gallery London, and it was exempted from capital taxes. The painting will be publicly displayed starting May 10 in the newly renovated Sainsbury Wing, with curators hoping that further research and public exhibition will eventually reveal the artist's identity.