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Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels

Artist/Maker (Italy, 1460-1516)
Dateca. 1510-1515
Mediumtempera on wood
DimensionsSight: 48 1/2 in. (123.2 cm)
Framed: 66 1/2 x 66 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (168.9 x 168.9 x 14 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineGift of The Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Terms
    Object number61.023.000
    DescriptionLarge round paintings of the Madonna with the Christ Child lying on the ground in front of his adoring mother or standing by her side, accompanied by saints and angels, became popular in Tuscany in the late fifteenth century. Departing from this iconographic tradition, the infant Christ in Fungai’s painting is carried by angels on a litter decorated with red and white roses, flowers sacred to the Virgin. This unusual motif is not merely decorative but also symbolic, representing the marriage of Christ, the bridegroom, with his bride, Mary-Ecclesia (the Church), who tenderly touches the chin of her beloved. Witnessing this union is Mary Magdalene, covered with the long hair she grew during her thirty years in the desert as a penitent. Four other saints known for their asceticism and retirement into the wilderness – John the Baptist, Jerome, Francis, and Christopher – also are depicted in the painting. The original location of the painting is unknown; however, the imagery suggests that it may have hung in a church associated with a convent in Siena or its environs.
    On View
    Not on view
    Collections
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Lorenzo di Credi
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    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Bicci di Lorenzo
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    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Master of the Blessed Clare of Rimini
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    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Artist Unknown
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    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Sano di Pietro
    ca. 1460-1480
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Battista Dossi
    ca. 1520-1530
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Cornelis Cornelisz. Van Haarlem
    not dated
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Mino da Fiesole
    1461
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Rocco Marconi
    ca. 1525