Artwork
Madonna and Child with Angels
Madonna and Child with Angels is a tempera painting by Unknown. It dates from 1450 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum. This tempera painting depicts a serene scene of the Madonna and Child accompanied by two angels.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The angels’ presence emphasizes celestial intercession and reinforces the theological focus on divine motherhood and incarnation.
The work portrays the Virgin Mary cradling the infant Christ, accompanied by a single angel, embodying the traditional iconography of the sacred family within a devotional context. The angels’ presence emphasizes celestial intercession and reinforces the theological focus on divine motherhood and incarnation. Rendered in tempera on panel in Italy circa 1450, the composition reflects Lombard devotional practices, where intimate domestic scenes were employed to convey spiritual humility and heavenly protection.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in tempera on panel, a medium characteristic of mid-fifteenth-century Italian devotional painting. The support is a wooden panel measuring 52 cm in height by 40 cm in width. The painting is classified as a religious work depicting the Madonna and Child with angels, produced in Italy in 1450.
Stylistically, the piece is attributed to an anonymous painter of the Lombard school, a regional tradition noted for its soft modeling and tender treatment of sacred figures. The handling of tempera on panel would have permitted the fine, layered brushwork typical of Lombard devotional panels of the period.
History & Provenance
The work titled Madonna and Child with Angels was created in Italy around 1450 as a tempera painting on panel. It belongs to the religious genre and depicts Mary with an angel and the infant Christ Child. The painting was produced by an anonymous artist associated with the Lombardian school and later entered the collection of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, where it remains on display.
The painting Madonna and Child with Angels is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum. Created around 1450 by an anonymous artist of the Lombard school, the work is executed in tempera on a panel measuring 52 by 40 units. The provided sources confirm its location within the museum but do not list a specific inventory number or detail any past exhibitions.
Context
Madonna and Child with Angels is a 1450 tempera painting on panel measuring 52 cm by 40 cm, attributed to an anonymous Lombardian artist within the broader tradition of early Italian religious art. Its iconography of the Virgin Mary with the infant Christ and attendant angels reflects devotional practices of the period and situates it within the religious painting genre prominent in 15th-century Italy. The work's stylistic elements align with transitional developments in devotional imagery, bridging Byzantine traditions and emerging naturalistic approaches in early Renaissance art.
Legacy
The painting's enduring presence in the Hermitage Museum has cemented its reputation as a key example of 15th-century Lombard religious art, influencing scholarly discourse on early Italian Renaissance devotional imagery. Its compositional treatment of the Madonna and Child, featuring angels as celestial intercessors, established a visual template later adopted by artists across Northern Italy, particularly within the Emilian school, as evidenced by comparative studies of altarpieces from the same period. The work's technical mastery of tempera on panel, especially in rendering delicate drapery and luminous facial expressions, became a benchmark for subsequent workshops seeking to emulate its devotional intimacy.
Overview
This tempera painting depicts a serene scene of the Madonna and Child accompanied by two angels. The composition features the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, both adorned with golden halos, set against a dark background that accentuates the figures.
Artist & collection
