Madonna and Child Enthroned with Two Donors
The Madonna and Child enthroned in an ornate Gothic frame, with a small donor couple at their feet: an altarpiece by the 14th-century Venetian painter Lorenzo Veneziano. Full commentary ↓
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Madonna and Child Enthroned with Two Donors is a tempera and gold painting by Lorenzo Veneziano (ca. 1360–65) in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It measures 108.3 × 65.7 cm.
In the pictureInside a gilded frame carved with tier upon tier of columns and pointed arches, Mary in a blue mantle sits on a throne holding the Child. The Child holds a small bird, and below, on either side of the throne, kneel a small man and woman. The background is gold leaf, and the frame is original.
BackgroundLorenzo Veneziano was the painter who, in mid-14th-century Venice, moved away from the Byzantine manner and brought in the softness of the Gothic. The bird the Child holds is a symbol foretelling the Passion, and the small couple at the bottom are the donors who commissioned the painting; it was the custom of the time to have oneself painted much smaller than the Virgin. With even the intricate carving of the frame surviving, it shows what a Venetian altarpiece originally looked like.
Puzzle tipSet up the outer frame first with the pieces of the gilded frame's columns and arches. Fit the blue mantle, the two faces and the donor pieces at the bottom, then fill in the gold background starting with pieces that touch the halos and the throne. 100 pieces is a good fit.
- Artist
- Italian, Venice, active 1356–79
- Classification
- Paintings
- Medium
- Tempera on wood, gold ground
- Dimensions
- 108.3 x 65.7 cm
- Credit line
- Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
Stories about this work
- From Florence to Ancona: Italian Painting Styles in Four Enthroned Madonnas
Compare four paintings of the enthroned Madonna and Child by painters from Florence, Venice and Ancona. See how style changed over 150 years while you put them together as puzzles.
- Why Are There So Many Madonna and Child Paintings? Painting the Same Scene for Centuries
This site alone has 12 paintings of the Madonna and Child. Why the same scene was repeated for centuries, and how to find the differences within it.
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