Creative Commons License
Madonna and Child
(Renaissance Europe )
Probably intended for private devotion in a domestic interior, this painting shows the Madonna holding the Christ Child as he plays with a tiny dove, a symbol of peace, perched on his hand. With her melancholic expression the Madonna demonstrates her awareness of her son’s future death at the crucifixion. The sweeping, calligraphic folds of the Madonna’s drapery and the delicate modeling of her features are typical traits of the “Interntaional Gothic,” an elegant and courtly style popular throughout Europe in the early 1400s. The painting is thought to be by Bartolomeo da Miranda, about whom little is known other than that he was active in the region of Umbria in central Italy in the early to mid-1400s. The composition of the Walters’ painting is similar to that of a small triptych by Bartolomeo now at the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Orvieto.
The surface is very damaged, making an assessment of the style difficult.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1897 catalogue: no. 149, as Sienese School, 14th century]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Italy, Umbria (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Painted surface H: 20 7/8 x W: 14 1/8 in. (53 x 35.8 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1812