Who painted Virgin and Child with Angels?

Virgin and Child with Angels was painted by Spinello Aretino in 1405.

Where can I see Virgin and Child with Angels?

Virgin and Child with Angels is held by Cleveland Museum of Art.

What movement is Virgin and Child with Angels?

Virgin and Child with Angels is associated with Early Renaissance.

Artwork

Virgin and Child with Angels

Spinello Aretino , 1405

Virgin and Child with Angels is an unspecified painting by the Early Renaissance artist Spinello Aretino. It dates from 1405 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Accession no.: 1977.145
Credit line: Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

About this work

The artist stacked three moments, birth, death, and resurrection, into one frame so worshippers could see the whole story at once.

You see a gold-leaf throne holding Mary and baby Jesus, ringed by angels with bright red wings and halos like tiny suns.

This was the middle panel of a church altarpiece. The artist stacked three moments, birth, death, and resurrection, into one frame so worshippers could see the whole story at once. The gold background wasn’t just pretty; it was meant to glow like heaven when candlelight hit it.

Look up more works from Italy, early 15th century to see how other artists told the same story.

Overview

This central panel from an altarpiece shows the Madonna seated on a throne with the infant Christ, surrounded by kneeling angels and six-winged seraphim. Below is an image of the dead Christ flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John. Above the arch is the Blessing Christ after his ascent into heaven and two more angels who gaze down on the main scene.

Together these images extol the role of the Madonna in the redemption of humankind. Spinello Aretino was a painter of devotional panels, altarpieces, and frescos. His most important commissions were painted in Arezzo, Lucca, Florence, Pisa, and Siena.

His concern for space and the powerful outlines of his figures reflect a greater understanding of the principles developed by Giotto and his contemporaries, yet his keen sense of decoration reveals an equal awareness of Sienese painting.

Artist & collection

Artist

Spinello Aretino

Spinello Aretino was an Italian painter from Arezzo, who was active in Tuscany at the end of the 14th and the first decade of the 15th century. His style influenced the development of late 14th- and early 15th-century painting in Tuscany.