Ambrogio Bergognone, 'The Virgin and Child with Saints', about 1490
About the work
Overview
We are clearly looking into heaven in this large painting. The Virgin Mary sits on a carved and gilded throne, the Christ Child standing on her lap. They are flanked by Saints Catherine of Alexandria, dressed as a princess, and Catherine of Siena in the habit of a Dominican nun. The figures are linked by their hands: the Virgin holds Catherine of Siena’s hand, while Christ places a ring on Catherine of Alexandria’s finger (the saint had a vision of herself as a ‘bride of Christ’ and, because of this, refused to marry the Roman emperor).
This painting was one of ten Bergognone made for the Certosa (Charterhouse) of Pavia in the late 1480s and 1490s. It presumably hung in the fifth chapel off the left aisle of the nave, which is dedicated to the two Saints Catherine.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Virgin and Child with Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Catherine of Siena
- Artist
- Ambrogio Bergognone
- Artist dates
- active 1481; died 1523?
- Date made
- about 1490
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 187.5 × 129.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1857
- Inventory number
- NG298
- Location
- Room 10
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 19th-century Italian Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
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2011Art for the Nation: Sir Charles Eastlake at the National GalleryThe National Gallery (London)27 July 2011 - 30 October 2011
Bibliography
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1859G. Calvi, Notizie sulla vita e sulle opere dei principali architetti, scultori e pittori che fiorirono in Milano durante il governo dei Visconti e degli Sforza, Milan 1859
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1895L. Beltrami, Ambrogio da Fossano detto il Borgognone, Milan 1895
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1931A. Morassi, 'Un affresco di Ambrogio e alcune opere di Bernardino Bergognone', Bollettino d'arte, ser. 2, X, 1931, pp. 448-60
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1961M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
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1985C.T. Dowd, 'The Travel Diary of Otto Mündler', The Walpole Society, LI, 1985
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1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
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1988M. Gregori, Pittura a Pavia dal Romanico al Settecento, Milan 1988
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1989J. Shell, 'Bergognone: Una nuova biografia', in P.C. Marani and J. Shell, Ambrogio Bergognone: Acquisizioni, scoperte e restauri: Pinacoteca di Brera, Milano, Milan 1989, pp. 20-5
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1990P.C. Marani and J. Shell, 'Novità sul Bergognone', in Quaderno di studi sull'arte Lombardia dai visconti agli Sforza, Milan 1990, pp. 64-7
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1993V. Terraroli (ed.), La pittura in Lombardia: Il Quattrocento, Milan 1993
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.