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At the center of this multi-paneled altarpiece, the enthroned Virgin Mary, surrounded by angels, holds the Christ Child on her knee, allowing him to be worshipped by a kneeling monk, surely the individual who commissioned the painting. To the left of the central panel is the bishop saint Nicholas of Bari while to the right is Saint Galganus. Rarely depicted, Galganus is shown thrusting his sword into the rock on Mount Siepi (near Siena in Central Italy), where the Archangel Michael instructed him to build his hermitage. Flanking the side panels in the frame of the altarpiece are additional saints: at the left are Saints Dominic (above) and Bartholomew (below); at the right are Saints Francis of Assisi (above) and John the Baptist (below). The uppermost panels depict Christ as the blessing savior between the Archangel Gabriel (at the left) and the Virgin of the Annunciation (at the right).Rejecting the naturalism of contemporary Florentine painting, Giovanni di Paolo worked in a style characterized by flat, linear forms and bright colors with a profusion of gold, reminiscent of the great traditions of earlier medieval painting. Such traditions were vigorously upheld in Giovanni's native Siena, carrying on the visual vocabulary of the city's artistic "Golden Age" in the 1300s.

Page data

Page
2
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
ffb4dc5c4f718d22
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
14988
Core
obj
Type
drawing
DTO data
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    "id": "14988",
    "sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/37.554",
    "contentType": "drawing",
    "stage": "normalized",
    "title": "Virgin and Child with Saints",
    "description": "At the center of this multi-paneled altarpiece, the enthroned Virgin Mary, surrounded by angels, holds the Christ Child on her knee, allowing him to be worshipped by a kneeling monk, surely the individual who commissioned the painting. To the left of the central panel is the bishop saint Nicholas of Bari while to the right is Saint Galganus. Rarely depicted, Galganus is shown thrusting his sword into the rock on Mount Siepi (near Siena in Central Italy), where the Archangel Michael instructed him to build his hermitage. Flanking the side panels in the frame of the altarpiece are additional saints: at the left are Saints Dominic (above) and Bartholomew (below); at the right are Saints Francis of Assisi (above) and John the Baptist (below). The uppermost panels depict Christ as the blessing savior between the Archangel Gabriel (at the left) and the Virgin of the Annunciation (at the right).Rejecting the naturalism of contemporary Florentine painting, Giovanni di Paolo worked in a style characterized by flat, linear forms and bright colors with a profusion of gold, reminiscent of the great traditions of earlier medieval painting. Such traditions were vigorously upheld in Giovanni's native Siena, carrying on the visual vocabulary of the city's artistic \"Golden Age\" in the 1300s.",
    "provenance": "Compagnia del Santissimo Sacramento e Carità, Frosini [near Chiusdino, province of Siena]; Banca Popolare e Cassa di Risparmio, Genoa [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, Sangiorgi, Rome, April 8-11, 1895, lot 80 [as School of Pistoia, 15th century]; Private collection, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unkonwn]; B. Berenson, Settignano, 1911 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1911 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.",
    "date": "ca. 1475-1480 (Renaissance)",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/37.554",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Painting & Drawing",
        "paintings",
        "altarpieces",
        "polyptychs"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL7_37.554_Fnt_SL.jpg",
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    "largeImageUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL7_37.554_Fnt_SL.jpg",
    "imageCount": 2,
    "pageCount": 2,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensions": [
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            "units": "cm",
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            "depth": 4.4
        }
    ],
    "dimensionsRaw": "H: 79 1/2 x W: 77 9/16 x Max. D: 1 3/4 in. (202 x 197 x 4.4 cm); Min. D: 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm); Central panel painted surface H: 53 3/4 x W: 21 9/16 in. (136.5 x 54.7 cm); Left panel painted surface H: 42 5/16 x W: 18 7/8 in. (107.5 x 48 cm); Right panel painted surface H: 41 15/16 x W: 19 1/8 in. (106.5 x 48.5 cm); Central pinnacle painted surface H: 16 7/8 x W: 10 1/4 in. (42.8 x 26 cm); Left pinnacle painted surface H: 16 1/8 x W: 9 1/16 in. (41 x 23 cm); Right pinnacle painted surface H: 16 5/16 x W: 9 1/16 in. (41.5 x 23 cm)"
}

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Document identity
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    "localId": "14988",
    "label": "Virgin and Child with Saints",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "drawing",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/37.554"
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Document source metadata
{
    "id": "14988",
    "sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/37.554",
    "contentType": "drawing",
    "stage": "normalized",
    "title": "Virgin and Child with Saints",
    "description": "At the center of this multi-paneled altarpiece, the enthroned Virgin Mary, surrounded by angels, holds the Christ Child on her knee, allowing him to be worshipped by a kneeling monk, surely the individual who commissioned the painting. To the left of the central panel is the bishop saint Nicholas of Bari while to the right is Saint Galganus. Rarely depicted, Galganus is shown thrusting his sword into the rock on Mount Siepi (near Siena in Central Italy), where the Archangel Michael instructed him to build his hermitage. Flanking the side panels in the frame of the altarpiece are additional saints: at the left are Saints Dominic (above) and Bartholomew (below); at the right are Saints Francis of Assisi (above) and John the Baptist (below). The uppermost panels depict Christ as the blessing savior between the Archangel Gabriel (at the left) and the Virgin of the Annunciation (at the right).Rejecting the naturalism of contemporary Florentine painting, Giovanni di Paolo worked in a style characterized by flat, linear forms and bright colors with a profusion of gold, reminiscent of the great traditions of earlier medieval painting. Such traditions were vigorously upheld in Giovanni's native Siena, carrying on the visual vocabulary of the city's artistic \"Golden Age\" in the 1300s.",
    "provenance": "Compagnia del Santissimo Sacramento e Carità, Frosini [near Chiusdino, province of Siena]; Banca Popolare e Cassa di Risparmio, Genoa [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, Sangiorgi, Rome, April 8-11, 1895, lot 80 [as School of Pistoia, 15th century]; Private collection, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unkonwn]; B. Berenson, Settignano, 1911 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1911 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.",
    "date": "ca. 1475-1480 (Renaissance)",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/37.554",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Painting & Drawing",
        "paintings",
        "altarpieces",
        "polyptychs"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL7_37.554_Fnt_SL.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL7_37.554_Fnt_SL.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL7_37.554_Fnt_SL.jpg",
    "imageCount": 2,
    "pageCount": 2,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensions": [
        {
            "units": "cm",
            "width": 202,
            "height": 197,
            "depth": 4.4
        }
    ],
    "dimensionsRaw": "H: 79 1/2 x W: 77 9/16 x Max. D: 1 3/4 in. (202 x 197 x 4.4 cm); Min. D: 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm); Central panel painted surface H: 53 3/4 x W: 21 9/16 in. (136.5 x 54.7 cm); Left panel painted surface H: 42 5/16 x W: 18 7/8 in. (107.5 x 48 cm); Right panel painted surface H: 41 15/16 x W: 19 1/8 in. (106.5 x 48.5 cm); Central pinnacle painted surface H: 16 7/8 x W: 10 1/4 in. (42.8 x 26 cm); Left pinnacle painted surface H: 16 1/8 x W: 9 1/16 in. (41 x 23 cm); Right pinnacle painted surface H: 16 5/16 x W: 9 1/16 in. (41.5 x 23 cm)"
}
Document source extras
{
    "cul": "Medieval European",
    "med": "tempera and gold leaf on wood panel",
    "creator_ids": [
        "3338",
        "3338"
    ],
    "collection_ids": [
        "REN"
    ],
    "exhibition_ids": []
}
Page context
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    "mediaId": "ffb4dc5c4f718d22"
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