Virgin and Child with St John and St Francis

1877

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century Religious

Dominant colour

Virgin and Child with St John and St Francis is a 1877 by Pietro Lorenzetti, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Pietro Lorenzetti
When & what style?: 1877 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This painting shows the Virgin and Child with two saints, St John and St Francis. It's a detailed scene with many figures. The print is made using a technique where a design is applied to a stone with greasy chalk, and then ink is passed over it. To learn more about this kind of print technique, look up the technique of chiaroscuro.

The story of this work

Overview

This chromolithograph reproduces Pietro Lorenzetti’s *Virgin and Child with St John and St Francis* against a gold ground, with the Virgin and Child at center, Saint Francis to the left, and Saint John to the right. Produced for the Arundel Society, it was created using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to replicate the original composition for subscribers. The print reflects the Society’s focus on Italian fresco cycles from the 14th to 16th centuries as part of its broader effort to disseminate art reproductions widely.

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Artist

Pietro Lorenzetti

Pietro Lorenzetti (Italian: ; c. 1280 – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between c. 1306 and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio, he introduced naturalism into Sienese art. In their…

See the richer artist page