|
Date: |
|
Description: | The Madonna is seated on a cushion holding the Christ Child on her knee. He holds a goldfinch in His left hand. The Madonna wears a crown and a blue robe over a brocade garment. The Christ Child is wrapped in a red-robe. His halo has a cross motif picked out in red. The goldfinch was long a household pet in Europe and was frequently depicted with the Christ Child in late medieval and Renaissance art. According to early legend, the little bird got its red breast from Christ's blood where it plucked a thorn from his crown on the way to cavalry. The bird shown with its wings outspread signifies the crucifixion. Unusually for a Madonna of Humility (a Madonna seated on a cushion on the ground), she wears a crown. The elongated fingers, crossed legs of the Christ Child and the pink cheeks of both figures indicate that this Madonna was painted by a Sienese artist around 1400. This painting has suffered multiple later overpaintings and other mutilations (including the loss of its arched top) but, thanks to restoration, we now have a better idea of its original appearance. | Subjects: | religion (Virgin and Child); figure | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Italian (Tuscan) School Æ Attributed to Attributed to manner of Starnina, Gherardo (Italian painter, ca. 1360-before 1413, active in Florence and Spain) Previously attributed to Italian (Sienese) School | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8624... | Go to resource |
|
|