Gerolamo Giovenone, 'The Virgin and Child with Saints and Donors', perhaps about 1520

The scene in this altarpiece is set in what appears to be a narrow paved courtyard open to the sky. There are doorways at left and right on the ground floor and a colonnade on the floor above, with a balustrade of roundels on the top floor. The Virgin Mary sits on a carved throne beneath a red brocade canopy. A length of cloth of gold brocade suspended from ropes hangs behind her and continues over the seat and steps of her throne, forming a cloth of honour. She gazes demurely at the ground, and holds a white cloth on which the infant Christ sits. He looks in our direction and raises his hand. Two little angels playing musical instruments perch at the back of the throne.

The saint on the left who is a Franciscan cardinal bishop must be Saint Bonaventure. He holds an unusual emblem – a thorny Crucifix with a pelican in her nest on top. The pelican symbolises the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, as the bird was believed to feed her chicks with her own blood if necessary. On the right of the throne, Saint Francis, wearing the white monk’s habit of the Franciscan Order and bearing a Crucifix, gazes at us and directs our attention to the Virgin and Child. The hand he extends towards them is marked with the stigmata (wounds that miraculously appeared on his body in places corresponding to Christ’s crucifixion wounds). Each of the saints introduces an unidentified male donor to the Virgin and Child. In the Catholic Church one of the roles of saints is to act as intercessors on behalf of the faithful, forming a link between the earthly and divine realms.

The saints place one hand protectively on the donors' shoulders. The donor on the left is depicted in profile, gazing in adoration at the Virgin and Child. He has removed his hat in deference to them, and it hangs from the tips of his fingers. He wears an expensive cloak of black silk brocade; the fringe of tiny brushstrokes at its hem suggests that is it lined in a costly black fur. The donor on the right, who wears a sword and gold jewellery, has placed his hat on the floor and clasps his hands in prayer, turning slightly out of true profile towards us. The two men have similar colouring and are not unlike in their facial features, suggesting that they may be related to one another. There does not appear to be enough difference in age for them to be father and son – perhaps they are brothers. The presence of the Franciscan saints suggests that the altarpiece was commissioned for a chapel in a church owned by the Franciscan Order, to which the two donors were especially dedicated.

This is an early work by Giovenone, produced while he was still influenced by the style of Defendente Ferrari (about 1480/5–about 1540), who worked in Piedmont. The top of the panel was originally rounded, but an additional 5 cm has been added to it. There are several long vertical splits in the painting at the points where the different planks that make up the panel have separated over time.