Artwork
Madonna and Child with Angels
Madonna and Child with Angels is a tempera painting. It dates from 1462 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Its formal elements, tempera on poplar panel, modest scale, and balanced composition, emphasize humility and spiritual focus.
The work portrays the Virgin Mary holding the infant Christ Child, flanked by two angels, a composition that follows the conventional Madonna and Child iconography of 15th-century Italian religious painting. The angels' presence underscores heavenly intercession and reinforces the divine nature of the Child, while Mary's gentle embrace conveys maternal tenderness and the promise of redemption. The attribution to a Ferrarese painter of the mid-1400s and its provenance through several collectors to the National Gallery of Art reflect its recognized status as a devotional image intended for private contemplation. Its formal elements, tempera on poplar panel, modest scale, and balanced composition, emphasize humility and spiritual focus.
Technique & Style
The Madonna and Child with Angels (1462) exemplifies Ferrarese 15th-century devotional painting through its use of tempera on a poplar panel support, measuring 53.5 × 36.2 cm. The egg-based tempera was applied in fine brushstrokes characteristic of Ferrarese technique, allowing for precise delineation of drapery folds and facial features, while the poplar panel provided a stable, smooth surface conducive to detailed work. Stylistically, the painting demonstrates the linear precision and luminous color typical of the Ferrarese school, emphasizing the sacred figures' hieratic presence within a shallow pictorial field.
History & Provenance
Dated to 1462, this tempera on poplar panel by a fifteenth-century Ferrarese master has a documented ownership history beginning with Stefano Bardini in Florence by 1890. By 1910, the work belonged to Leo Nardus, who held residences in Suresnes and New York. It subsequently entered the collection of Marczell von Nemes in Munich and Budapest before appearing in a private Roman collection by 1930.
Count Alessandro Contini-Bonacossa of Rome later acquired the painting, selling it in November 1932 to the Samuel H. Kress Collection; a bill from this transaction identifies the work as coming from Baron von Nemes. In 1939, Kress gifted the painting to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it remains.
Overview
This painting, titled Madonna and Child with Angels, is rendered in tempera on a poplar panel. It depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the infant Jesus, flanked by two angelic figures. The work exemplifies religious iconography common in its period, presenting a serene and devotional scene.
Artist & collection
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