The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 14, 2024

Madonna and Child Enthroned

Madonna and Child Enthroned

c. 1350
(Italian, c. 1335–1380)
Italy, 14th century
tempera and gold on poplar panel
Framed: 122.5 x 61 x 7.5 cm (48 1/4 x 24 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 113.7 x 54 cm (44 3/4 x 21 1/4 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1968.206
Location: 110A Italian Gothic

Description

Seated on an elaborate throne, the Madonna’s weighty majesty emphasizes her role as the Queen of Heaven as she gazes at her infant son. The child, in turn, stares at the viewer. To Christ’s right is a fluttering goldfinch, a bird that was believed to nest in thorny trees and, according to legend, removed a painful spine from Christ’s crown of thorns. At that moment, a drop of his blood fell onto the goldfinch, forever giving it red markings. The precise identity of this artist has not yet been discovered, and little is known about his training or career. He receives his name after an altarpiece in the church of San Lucchese in Poggibonsi, near Siena.
  • A. Artaud de Montor, Paris (1808, c. 1845); Challamel family, Paris; (Paris sale 1967); (Wildenstein)
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 54 archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1968.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 56, no. 1 (January 1969): 3–50. Reproduced: Back cover; Mentioned: p. 46, no. 65 www.jstor.org
    Fahy, Everett. “A Masterpiece of Early Italian Painting.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 56, no. 10 (December 1969): 348–353. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 348-353 www.jstor.org
    Wixom, William D. “A Masterpiece Attributed to Andrea Pisano.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 10 (December 1972): 263–83. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 282, fig. 44 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 1. European Paintings before 1500. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Reproduced: fig. 34, p. 92 - 95; fig. 34a, p. 93
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 64 archive.org
    Boskovits, Miklós, ed. Italian Paintings from the 13th to 15th Century. Firenze, Italy: Polistampa, 2009. Mentioned: p. 110
  • Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 13-September 19, 1971).
    Year in Review: 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969).
  • {{cite web|title=Madonna and Child Enthroned|url=false|author=Master of San Lucchese|year=c. 1350|access-date=14 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1968.206