Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
This massive altarpiece—intact but unfortunately much damaged—comprises ten panels arranged in two registers. In each panel the figures silhouetted against a background of elaborately tooled gold leaf, which would have flickered in the candlelight of the dimly lit church where the painting was originally installed. Such effects were intended to enhance the illusion that the worshipper was witnessing an assemblage of holy figures in a celestial realm. On the lower level is the Madonna, enthroned and crowned as Queen of Heaven, supporting the Christ Child on her lap and flanked by (left to right) Saints Clare, Sebastian, an anonymous saint holding a sword and arrow, and Mary Magdalen. On the upper level is the Trinity—represented as God the Father holding the crucified Christ and the Holy Spirit—flanked by (left to right) half-length images of Saints Jerome, Catherine, an anonymous bishop saint, and Saint Apollonia. The two-tiered format, gold ground, and stylized figures, with their wide eyes and immobile features, are typical of traditional altarpieces produced in the late 1400s in the northernmost parts of Italy near the Alps. This impressive, complete example was produced in 1494 in the region of Piedmont, not far from the French border, by the artist Manfredino Bosilio. It is notably the artist’s only painting in an American museum.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
16625
label
Madonna and Child, the Trinity, and Saints
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
16625
sourceUrl
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Madonna and Child, the Trinity, and Saints
description
This massive altarpiece—intact but unfortunately much damaged—comprises ten panels arranged in two registers. In each panel the figures silhouetted against a background of elaborately tooled gold leaf, which would have flickered in the candlelight of the dimly lit church where the painting was originally installed. Such effects were intended to enhance the illusion that the worshipper was witnessing an assemblage of holy figures in a celestial realm. On the lower level is the Madonna, enthroned and crowned as Queen of Heaven, supporting the Christ Child on her lap and flanked by (left to right) Saints Clare, Sebastian, an anonymous saint holding a sword and arrow, and Mary Magdalen. On the upper level is the Trinity—represented as God the Father holding the crucified Christ and the Holy Spirit—flanked by (left to right) half-length images of Saints Jerome, Catherine, an anonymous bishop saint, and Saint Apollonia. The two-tiered format, gold ground, and stylized figures, with their wide eyes and immobile features, are typical of traditional altarpieces produced in the late 1400s in the northernmost parts of Italy near the Alps. This impressive, complete example was produced in 1494 in the region of Piedmont, not far from the French border, by the artist Manfredino Bosilio. It is notably the artist’s only painting in an American museum.
provenance
Church of Santa Maria delle Ghiare, Pozzolo Formigaro, from 1494 until 1882. Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1897 catalogue: no. 76, as Tuscan School, early 15th century]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
1494 (Renaissance)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
paintings
polyptychs
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
391
height
232.3
dimensionsRaw
H with frame: 153 15/16 x W: 91 7/16 in. (391 x 232.3 cm); Saints Jerome and Monica panel H: 128 1/8 x W: 16 3/4 x D: 1 in. (325.5 x 42.5 x 2.6 cm); Saints Catherine and Sebastian panel H: 128 1/8 x W: 16 3/4 x D: 1 1/8 in. (325.5 x 42.5 x 2.8 cm); Madonna and Child and Trinity panel H: 146 5/8 x W: 22 7/16 x D: 1 5/16 in. (372.5 x 57 x 3.4 cm); Bishop and Saint Sebastian panel H: 127 13/16 x W: 16 9/16 x D: 1 1/4 in. (324.7 x 42 x 3.2 cm); Saints Apollonia and Clare panels H including added members: 127 7/8 x W: 16 5/16 x Approx. D: 1 in. (324.8 x 41.5 x 2.5 cm)
Source extras
inscriptions
[Transcription] On haloes of saints in upper row: SANC IEROMU; SANCTA CATERINA; REX REGVM ET DNS [D]OMI; SAN...MA...IA' SA[N]CTA APOLONIA.VIRGO ET M.; [Transcription] On haloes of saints in lower row: SANCTA.MONICA.AG[OSTINI].MATER; SANCTVS.SEBASTIANVS.MART; AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA DOMINI; SANCTVS. SEBASTIANVS; SANCTA. CLARA. DEMONTEFA[LCO]
med
tempera and gold leaf on wood panel
creator_ids
34979
collection_ids
REN
exhibition_ids
721
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
a001d245d641b46e