Style of Bonifazio di Pitati, 'The Madonna and Child with Saints', probably 1530-5
About the work
Overview
Saint Catherine sits reading a book on the left, beside the broken spiked wheel on which she was tortured during her martyrdom. The Virgin Mary’s elderly cousin Saint Elizabeth sits on the right holding her son, the infant John the Baptist. He wears his traditional camel skin and holds a scroll that reads ‘Ecce Agnus Dei’ (‘Behold the Lamb of God’), signifying Christ’s future sacrifice for humankind. The Christ Child turns on his mother’s lap to look at Saint Catherine, who gazes out of the picture at us. There are some traces of scribbled writing on the pier behind Saint Catherine but it is not clear what, if anything, they mean.
The poor quality of the painting suggests that Bonifazio was not personally involved in making the picture; it may have been put together by a follower from a combination of motifs from Bonifazio’s work. The costumes can be dated to the early 1530s.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Catherine of Alexandria
- Artist
- Style of Bonifazio di Pitati
- Artist dates
- 1487 - 1553
- Date made
- probably 1530-5
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 73 × 119.4 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by Alfred A. de Pass, 1920
- Inventory number
- NG3536
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Cecil Gould, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1987; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1959Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Venetian School, London 1959
-
1987Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
-
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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