Jan van Scorel began painting his Madonnas between 1527 and 1530. After he opened his workshop in Haarlem, he took on students and apprentices and started serial production. Maerten van Heemskerck was also one of Scorel’s apprentices at this time. Research has shown that there must have been a division of tasks in his workplace. Madonna with wild roses may well be the result of collaboration between Scorel and Van Heemskerck. The top portion of this painting was originally arched.
In 1958, Utrecht city council gave this piece to Centraal Museum, acquired in good faith from a renowned art dealer. Around 2010, the museum investigated its provenance and discovered that the painting had once been owned by German Jewish Richard Semmel and was auctioned without his permission in 1933. After investigation, the restitution committee issued a binding ruling that the museum is not obliged to return it to possible heirs. [text 2023]