Italian, Florentine, 'The Virgin and Child with Saints', probably 1450-1500

The Virgin and Child with Saints

Italian, Florentine

Not on display

About the work

Overview

At the centre of this painting is the Virgin Mary, seated in a narrow space, a wall behind her and a ledge before her. She holds the infant Christ, who seems unsteady on his feet as he leans to the right. He makes direct eye contact with the viewer. The young Saint John the Baptist, identified by his camel-hair shirt, looks on in devotion, his crossed arms embracing a little reed cross. An angel approaches from the opposite side wearing a wreath of roses and holding a white lily, common symbols of the Virgin’s purity.

Special tools have been used to decorate the golden background and the figures’ haloes, probably to increase the effect of flickering candlelight by which the painting would sometimes have been seen. It is likely to have decorated the bedroom of its original owners, offering a visual aid for prayer. It still has its original frame, which is actually part of the wooden panel on which the picture is painted.

In-depth

At the centre of this circular painting is the Virgin Mary, seated in a narrow space, a wall behind her and a ledge before her. She holds the infant Christ, who seems unsteady on his feet as he leans to the right. The fact that he is nude – unlike his mother, who wears several layers of garments and a headdress – highlights his vulnerability. It may be for this reason that Mary looks down with concern on her face. She may also anticipate Christ’s future crucifixion. It is the viewer with whom he makes direct eye contact.

The Virgin and Christ Child are joined by the young Saint John the Baptist, who will go on to baptise Christ in the river Jordan. Identified by his camel-hair shirt, he looks on in devotion, his crossed arms embracing a little reed cross. An angel is standing on the opposite side, wearing a wreath of roses and holding a white lily, common symbols of the Virgin’s purity. His right hand rests on a sash decorated with an illegible inscription.

The painting still has its original frame, which is actually part of the wooden panel on which the picture is painted. It is richly gilded, and decorated with blossoms and vines that form regular patterns that are further divided by rope-like rings. Special tools have been used to decorate the surface of the painting’s golden background: some areas are embossed while others are raised using pastiglia, a paste of gesso or white lead. The haloes have been densely incised to appear like rays of light. All these efforts have probably been undertaken to heighten the effect of flickering candlelight by which the painting would sometimes have been seen.

A circular painting like this one, also known as a tondo, is likely to have adorned the bedroom of its original owners, offering a visual aid for prayer. The format may appear unusual, but was actually very common during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, especially in Florence. There are other examples in the National Gallery’s collection, including The Virgin and Child with Saint John and an Angel by Botticelli and The Virgin and Child with the Magdalen and Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Raffaellino del Garbo. Florentines would have especially appreciated the inclusion of the young Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of the city. Florence’s most important church, the Baptistery, is dedicated to him.

We do not know the name of the artist who produced this tondo, but its design is indebted to works by the Florentine painters Fra Filippo Lippi and Pesellino. Its artist was possibly a member of Lippi’s workshop, or someone who reproduced Lippi’s designs, which were treasured by some of Florence’s leading families, including the Medici. The artist’s strong emphasis on contours makes him easily distinguishable and there are many more paintings by the same hand that are based on designs by Lippi, including versions of this composition. In the absence of a proper name, art historians refer to this painter as Pseudo Pier Francesco Fiorentino.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and an Angel
Artist: Italian, Florentine
Date made: probably 1450-1500
Medium and support: egg tempera on wood
Dimensions: 69.9 × 69.9 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1885
Inventory number: NG1199
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Baslini at Milan, Walker Fund, 1885.

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.

Bibliography

1901

M. Logan, 'Compagno di Pesellino et quelques peintures de l'école', Gazette des beaux-arts, XXVI, 1901, pp. 336-68
1923

R. van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, 19 vols, The Hague 1923
1926

G. Soulier, 'Pier Francesco Fiorentino, pittore di Madonne', Dedalo, VII, 1926, pp. 86-101
1932

B. Berenson, 'Quadri senza casa. Il Quattrocento fiorentino II', Dedalo, XII, 1932, pp. 665-702
1935

M. Mseriantz, 'Two New Panels by Pier Francesco Fiorentino', Art in America, XXIII, 1935, pp. 103ff
1951

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
1952

L. Berti, 'Note brevi su inediti toscani', Bollettino d'arte, 1952
1961

M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
1963

B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Work, with an Index of Places: Florentine School, 2 vols, New York 1963
1973

C.M. Kauffmann, Victoria and Albert Museum. Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, London 1973
1976

F. Zeri, Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore 1976
1986

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
1991

J. Dunkerton et al., Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, New Haven 1991
1994

T. Kustodieva, The Hermitage Catalogue of Western European Painting: Italian Painting Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries, Moscow 1994
1996

P. Mitchell, Frameworks: Form, Function and Ornament in European Portrait Frames, London 1996
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.

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You've viewed 6 of 14 works

Italian, Florentine, 'The Virgin and Child with Saints', probably 1450-1500

About the work

Overview

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Provenance

Additional information

Source

Bibliography

About this record

Images

More works by Italian, Florentine