The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

Virgin and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Virgin and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Catherine of Alexandria

c. 1450
(Italian)
Italy, Siena(?)
tempera and gold on wood panel
Framed: 68.5 x 47.5 x 5 cm (26 15/16 x 18 11/16 x 1 15/16 in.); Unframed: 59.7 x 39 cm (23 1/2 x 15 3/8 in.)
The Fanny Tewksbury King Collection 1956.719
Location: 117A Italian Renaissance

Did You Know?

The figure to the right of the Christ child is Saint Jerome, identifiable by the rock he holds to his chest.

Description

In his right hand, the Christ child grasps a stem of roses. The beauty and fragrance of roses symbolize heaven, while their thorny stems allude to the crown of thorns and Christ's suffering. The bird he holds in his left hand symbolizes the human soul. The elaborate haloes with Latin inscriptions identify the figures and help organize the composition. The names of Christ, Saint Jerome, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria appear in abbreviated form. The Madonna's halo proclaims her worthiness to bear the Son of God: "Hail, full of grace," while the inscription at the top is one of her most popular titles: "Merciful Mother."
  • In sale held by Galardelli, Florence, May 13, 1914, lot 37, illus. in pl. I (as Sano di Pietro)
    Achillito Chiesa, Milan (sale: American Art Galleries, New York, Nov. 27, 1925, no. 50)
    Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Kind, Cleveland, 1925
    The Fanny Tewksbury Kind Collection, 1956
  • Marle, Raimond van, and Charlotte van Marle. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1923. Mentioned: Vol. IX, p. 484, n. 1
    Eglington, Guy. "Chiesa Collection of Italian and Flemish Masterpieces Goes on View at the American Art Galleries." ARTnews XXIV, 7 (November 21. 1925): 14.
    Attributed to Sano di Pietro. Mentioned: p. 14.
    Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972.
    Attributed to a follower of Sano di Pietro. Mentioned: p. 181, 320, 383, 406, 574
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 1. European Paintings before 1500. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Reproduced: fig. 28, p. 73 - 75
  • Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962).
    Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, The Cleveland Museum of Art, cat. no. 141. The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1936.
    Representative Art through the Ages (lent by Mrs. Ralph King),The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928.
  • {{cite web|title=Virgin and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Catherine of Alexandria|url=false|author=Carolino da Viterbo|year=c. 1450|access-date=16 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1956.719