Artwork
Virgin and Child with an Angel
Virgin and Child with an Angel is a tempera painting by the Early Renaissance artist Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli. It dates from 1450 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
About this work
Technique & Style
The composition centers on the Virgin and Christ Child, with the religious genre and Madonna-and-Child subject shaping its stylistic approach.
The work is executed in tempera on panel, a standard technique for mid-fifteenth-century Italian devotional paintings. Its panel support measures 57.5 cm in height by 44.5 cm in width, a relatively modest scale suited to private devotion. The composition centers on the Virgin and Christ Child, with the religious genre and Madonna-and-Child subject shaping its stylistic approach.
As a tempera panel, it would have been prepared with a gesso ground and built up in thin, translucent layers characteristic of the medium, allowing for the fine linear detail and luminous flesh tones typical of Florentine workshop practice of the period.
History & Provenance
The painting Virgin and Child with an Angel was created by Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli around the year 1450. Executed in tempera on a panel, the work measures 57.5 cm in height and 44.5 cm in width. The piece is currently held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Ownership records indicate the work was previously owned by Maria Antoinette Hunt Evans before entering the museum's holdings. The creation history is tied to the mid-15th century Florentine context of its artist, focusing on the religious subject of the Madonna and Child.
Overview
Virgin and Child with an Angel is a tempera painting created by Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli, an Italian artist, around 1450. It is a representation of a religious scene, characteristic of the early Renaissance period.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child, accompanied by an angel. The figures are rendered in a serene and intimate manner, with the Christ Child gazing directly at the viewer.
Artist & collection
Artist
Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli (1450–1526) was an Italian painter active in his native Florence and the surrounding countryside.
