15th-century painting · art-to-room palette

Virgin and Child Color Palette & Paint Colors

This palette comes from Hans Memling's Virgin and Child, an oil on wood painting held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its warm browns, clay and brick reds, with one deep blue, suit living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms that need warmth.

Quick answer

Use the pale peach as the wall color, since it is the lightest and reflects the most light. Put the terracotta clay on larger furniture or upholstery, the walnut brown on wood, the brick red as an accent, and the midnight slate blue on small textiles.

Artist: Hans Memling
Movement: 15th-century painting
Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Image license: Public domain (CC0)
Wall color LRV: 64

Virgin and Child by Hans Memling — Hans Memling, *Virgin and Child*. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, open access. The bar shows each color's measured share of the canvas.

The 6 colors in this painting

Measured from the image and ordered by how much of the canvas they cover. LRV is how much light a color reflects, from 0 for black to 100 for white.

Dark Espresso Brown

#36231F · 27% · LRV 2

Warm Terracotta Clay

#AF7650 · 24.8% · LRV 23

Rich Walnut Brown

#946044 · 20.5% · LRV 15

Pale Peach Blush

#F3C9AB · 13.9% · LRV 64

Deep Brick Red

#A63322 · 10.3% · LRV 11

Midnight Slate Blue

#25486A · 3.5% · LRV 6

Where each color lives in the painting

Left, every pixel of the canvas snapped to its nearest palette color. Right, the detail where each color is strongest.

Virgin and Child reduced to its palette colors — The same scene in 6 flat colors.

Detail of the painting where Dark Espresso Brown is strongest — Dark Espresso Brown

Detail of the painting where Warm Terracotta Clay is strongest — Warm Terracotta Clay

Detail of the painting where Rich Walnut Brown is strongest — Rich Walnut Brown

Detail of the painting where Pale Peach Blush is strongest — Pale Peach Blush

Detail of the painting where Deep Brick Red is strongest — Deep Brick Red

Detail of the painting where Midnight Slate Blue is strongest — Midnight Slate Blue

Closest paint colors

The nearest color from each brand. “Near-identical” and “Very close” are hard to tell apart on a wall; with “Similar”, compare a sample with the painting. Brands with nothing close are left out.

Painting color	Closest paints	LRV	Use it for
Dark Espresso Brown `#36231F`	Sherwin-Williams SW 2838 Polished Mahogany Close Behr BXC-78 Cordovan Leather Similar Valspar 1011-8 Antique Burgundy Similar	2	Small accents, art, accessories
Warm Terracotta Clay `#AF7650`	Behr S230-6 Burnt Toffee Close Valspar 3009-7 Caramel Toffee Close Sherwin-Williams SW 6362 Tigereye Close Farrow & Ball No. 64 Red Earth Similar	23	Bed, sofa, curtains
Rich Walnut Brown `#946044`	Valspar 3011-6 Toffee Glaze Very close Behr UL120-4 Antique Copper Very close Sherwin-Williams SW 45 Antiquarian Brown Close Farrow & Ball No. 42 Picture Gallery Red Similar	15	Wood and frames
Pale Peach Blush `#F3C9AB`	Valspar 2006-4B Peach Encounter Very close Behr 270A-3 Luminary Very close Sherwin-Williams SW 6632 Neighborly Peach Close Farrow & Ball No. 231 Setting Plaster Close	64	Main walls
Deep Brick Red `#A63322`	Behr S-H-210 New Penny Very close Sherwin-Williams SW 57 Chinese Red Close Valspar 2011-5 Crimson Glow Similar Farrow & Ball No. 248 Incarnadine Similar	11	One bold piece
Midnight Slate Blue `#25486A`	Sherwin-Williams SW 6524 Commodore Near-identical Behr 560F-7 Twilight Chimes Very close Valspar 4009-7 Indigo Cloth Similar Farrow & Ball No. 281 Stiffkey Blue Similar	6	One small textile

Paint names belong to their brands. Matches are measured from screen colors and are approximate; Light & Pigment is not affiliated with any paint brand.

How pale peach blush looks in your light

The wall color shifted for the light it will live in. Check the version closest to your room before buying a sample.

North-facing room#D4BDAE

North light is soft and cool, so the pale peach wall will look calmer and slightly cooler than it does in direct sun. Its LRV of 64 keeps the room bright enough without looking stark.

South-facing room#F6CFAF

Strong south light brings out the warm orange in the pale peach, so the wall will look brighter and more saturated. Test a sample on a few walls, since the color can read quite warm at midday.

Evening, warm lamps (2700K)#CBA57F

Warm evening bulbs push the peach toward amber and bring out the reds in the brick and clay tones. The deep brown and blue will look richer and more shadowed, which suits a room used mostly after dark.

Try the palette in a room

Pick which painting color goes on the walls, the big furniture and the bold piece. Floors, shadows and light follow your choices.

Walls

Bed, sofa, island

Bold piece

Wood takes Rich Walnut Brown and the rug border takes Midnight Slate Blue in every combination.

Mood board

Details from the painting next to the colors and materials that carry them into a room.

Pale Peach Blush

Warm Terracotta Clay

Deep Brick Red

Linen

Oiled oak

Lime plaster

Aged brass

Save this palette

A card with the painting, all 6 colors and a room scheme. Pin it, or take it to the paint store.

Save to Pinterest Download card

Guides that use colors from this painting

Red Color for a Bedroom: Three Shades and What to Pair Them With Red · Bedroom

Rust Color Paint: Terracotta Shades for Interior Walls Terracotta

More palettes like this

Virgin and Child in an Apse Robert Campin

The Adoration of the Magi Hieronymus Bosch, ca. 1475

Francesco d'Este (born ca. 1429, died after 1486) Rogier van der Weyden, ca. 1460

FAQ

Can I paint a whole room in the darkest brown?

The darkest brown has an LRV of 2, so it absorbs nearly all light. Use it on a single piece of furniture, a cabinet, or one wall in a room with plenty of daylight, and keep the other walls in the pale peach.

How much of the room should the midnight blue take up?

Keep the midnight slate blue to small areas such as a cushion, a throw, or a rug. It is the coolest color in the palette and works as a contrast to the warm tones around it.

Will these warm colors feel too heavy in a small room?

The pale peach wall helps keep a small room light. Limit the darker browns and the brick red to furniture and accents so the room does not feel closed in.

Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public domain (CC0). Palette, posterized image, details and room views generated by Light & Pigment from that image. Colors look different on screen than on a wall, so always test a sample.