Which artist painted the artwork owned by the Radziwill family until 1920?
The painting's known provenance begins in the 1830s when it was in the possession of the Radziwiłł family. According to art historian Sulpiz Boisserée, who saw the painting in 1832, Antoni Radziwiłł found the painting in an estate his father owned. Waagen speculated that may have belonged to Mikolai Radziwill (1549–1616) who might have inherited it from his brother Jerzy Radziwill, (1556–1600), who was a cardinal. The family kept it until 1920 when Princess Radziwill sold it to the Duveen Brothers in Paris. Philip Lehman bought it in October 1920; it is now held in the Robert Lehman collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.Generally the condition is good. Memling painted the work on two panels of about 28 cm each. The dated and inscribed frame, probably the original, was discarded in 1830. There have been three documented restorations. The painting had been pierced by an arrow when Anton Radziwill found it; he had it restored and the damage repaired. At that time the Virgin's mantle and the flesh tones sustained heavy overpainting. The original frame was discarded, but its inscription was inserted into the new frame. A description of the original frame suggests it carried a coat-of-arms, perhaps belonging to Jerzy Radziwill. The second restoration was after its exhibition in Bruges in 1902; and the third when Lehman had it restored and transferred to canvas sometime after 1928. The painting survived the transfer without significant damage.  A late-19th century photograph shows wood on all four sides of the painted surface, which suggests the edges may have been extended during the transfer. Areas that suffered paint loss and overpainting are Gabriel's cope and the vase holding the flowers.When Boisserée saw the painting he recorded the inscription's date as 1480. The last digit of the inscription was faded and difficult to read and had become illegible by 1899.  Waagen suggested the date could have been 1482, and art historian Dirk de Vos suggested 1489.
Memling's style does not lend itself well to assigning dates, making a determination difficult. According to Stirling, an earlier date is easily accepted, especially because of stylistic similarities to Memling's 1479 St John Altarpiece, whereas Ainsworth leans toward the later date as more in keeping with the mature style of the late 1480s.
Memling