Adoration of the Child with Saints Jerome, Mary Magdalene, Eustace and Julian

This panel, dated to around 1436, is tempera and gold on poplar, and its tall, narrow format suits a devotional image. It shows the Christ Child adored by Saint Jerome, Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint Eustace and Saint Julian. Gold is used for the background and fine details, giving the scene a solemn, devotional character.

The painting now hangs in the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe, but its earlier history is unknown. It may have come from the church of Santi Girolamo e Eustachio in Bologna during the artist's stay in Emilia-Romagna, though this cannot be confirmed.

The question of authorship is the main debate. Charles Loeser linked it to Paolo Uccello in 1898, and Roberto Longhi and Alessandro Angelini accepted that view, while dating it differently. Other scholars have proposed an unnamed Master of Karlsruhe or a Master of Quarate. In 1974 Parronchi suggested a painter close to Uccello, perhaps his daughter Antonia, a Carmelite nun and painter, an idea Padoa Rizzo developed more broadly in 1991.

Painter

Paolo Uccello

Date

1436

Medium

mixed technique, poplar panel

Dimensions

110 × 48 cm

Museum

Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe

Genre

religious art

Depicts

Julian, Jerome, Mary Magdalene

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