Madonna and Child
Mary holding the Christ Child, who grasps a red fruit, with lettering tooled into the gold halos. An arched Madonna and Child by Benvenuto di Giovanni. Full commentary ↓
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Madonna and Child is a tempera and gold painting by Benvenuto di Giovanni (ca. 1475–85) in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It measures 70.5 × 46 cm.
In the pictureOn the gold ground of a round-topped panel, Mary in a blue mantle holds the Child. The Child rests one hand on his mother's collar and holds a red fruit in the other, and both halos are tooled with lettering and patterns. Below are a stone parapet and a cushion, and the gold stripes of the mantle's lining are visible.
BackgroundThe red fruit the Child holds appears to be a pomegranate, a traditional symbol of Christ's Passion and Resurrection. Benvenuto di Giovanni worked in Siena in the late 15th century, keeping the tradition of gold-ground painting while giving his figures softer faces. The lettering in the halos is a Latin phrase in praise of the Virgin.
Puzzle tipThe picture divides into the blue mantle, flesh tones, gold leaf, and the gray parapet below. Assemble the two faces and the red fruit first, then set the curved pieces of the arch along the top. Among the gold pieces, place the ones with halo lettering first, and the positions of the rest will narrow down. 100 pieces is a good fit.
- Artist
- Italian, Siena 1430–ca. 1509/18 Siena
- Classification
- Paintings
- Medium
- Tempera on wood, gold ground
- Dimensions
- 70.5 × 46 cm
- Credit line
- Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
Stories about this work
- Reading the Symbols in Florentine Madonna and Child Paintings Through a Pomegranate and a Ruined Wall
Even within the same Madonna and Child subject, the meaning changes with the fruit the child holds, the ruins behind, and the figures alongside. Reading the symbols of four Florentine painters from 1475 to 1510.
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