Madonna enthroned with child with saints

This oil on canvas painting, made by Moretto da Brescia around 1536-1537, shows the Virgin Mary seated on a throne with the Christ Child on her lap, accompanied by several saints. The reference text identifies them as Saint Eusebia, Saint Andrew, Saint Domno and Saint Domneone. The work now hangs on one of the side altars of the church of Sant'Andrea in Bergamo, which suggests it was conceived for a specific devotional setting rather than as a museum piece. It belongs to the genre of religious painting in Renaissance Italy, where sacred figures are arranged around the Virgin in an orderly and solemn composition. For a visitor, the scene rewards attention to the relationships among the saints, the hierarchy of the figures and the way the painter organises the space around the throne. Moretto, who worked mainly in Brescia, was one of the most admired Lombard painters of his day, and this altarpiece well illustrates the balance between compositional clarity and restrained colour that marks his maturity.

Painter

Moretto da Brescia

Date

1536

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

224 × 174 cm

Museum

Sant’Andrea, Bergamo

Genre

religious art

Depicts

boy, Mary, woman, mother, Christ Child

Share:FacebookWhatsApp