Madonna and Child, with the Blessing Christ [middle panel]
c. 1415/1420
Painter, Sienese, active 1393/1434

This panel, along with two others by the Sienese artist Martino di Bartolomeo, were part of the same altarpiece. The figures’ solemnity and large bodies are characteristic of Martino’s work. In the central panel, the Virgin and Child touch their pink cheeks together. This kind of representation is called the Virgin Glykophilousa, or “Virgin of Tenderness,” a popular icon in the Byzantine East (glykos is Greek for sweet). Adding to the tender emotion in the figures’ embrace is the soft modeling of their faces and Jesus’s tug at the bodice of his mother’s dress, indicating his desire to nurse. Inset above them is the Blessing Christ.
Originally, Saint Peter would have appeared on the left. He holds the keys to heaven, but would have been recognized without that by his yellow robe and distinctive curly gray hair and beard. Above him is Saint James Major, known by his pilgrim’s staff, and inset into the panel on the opposite side is Anthony Abbot, identifiable by his hospitaller habit from a religious military order and T-shaped staff. Identifying the saint beneath Anthony Abbot is more difficult. He is apparently young and a deacon, by virtue of his wide-sleeved outer garment called a dalmatic. Because he holds a palm, we also know that he was a martyr. Two candidates for his identity are Saints Stephen and Lawrence. Saint Stephen, in fact, is considered the first Christian martyr. The means by which saints were martyred are typically included in their depictions and make identification possible: Stephen was stoned to death, and Lawrence was grilled over a fire. Since the artist and his patron did not feel such clues were required here, it is possible that the altarpiece originally stood in a church dedicated to the mystery saint.
Artwork overview
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Medium
tempera on panel
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
painted surface: 106.05 × 50.8 cm (41 3/4 × 20 in.)
original panel: 117.48 × 52.39 × 4.13 cm (46 1/4 × 20 5/8 × 1 5/8 in.)
overall (with added wood strips): 120.65 × 60.96 × 4.13 cm (47 1/2 × 24 × 1 5/8 in.)
depth (indicates warp of the panel): 8.57 cm (3 3/8 in.) -
Accession
1950.11.1.b
Associated Artworks

Deacon Saint, with Saint Anthony Abbot [right panel]
Martino di Bartolomeo
1415

Saint Peter, with Saint James Major [left panel]
Martino di Bartolomeo
1415
More About this Artwork
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Private collection, London, by 1924.[1] Samuel L. Fuller [1875-1963], New York;[2] gift 1950 to NGA.
[1] See F. Mason Perkins, “Su alcune pitture di Martino di Bartolomeo,” Rassegna d’Arte Senese 18 (1924): 5-12. The author does not divulge the name of the collector, but since he mentions that it was the collector himself who had suggested the attribution to Martino di Bartolomeo, the owner was undoubtedly a connoisseur and probably an amateur dealer such as Robert Langton Douglas or Edward Hutton, both active in London. A note from Ellis Waterhouse, written 22 July 1980, and recorded in NGA curatorial files, says, “I have old Langton Douglas photographs of these.”
[2] See Fern Rusk Shapley, Catalogue of the Italian Paintings, 2 vols., Washington, D.C., 1979: 1:303.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1968
Loan to display with permanent collection, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1968-1976 (middle panel of the triptych only).
Bibliography
1907
Weigelt, Curt H. "Martino di Bartolomeo." In Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Edited by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 24(1930):181.
1923
Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 2(1924):590.
1924
Perkins, F. Mason. "Su alcune pitture di Martino di Bartolomeo." Rassegna d’arte senese 18 (1924): 12, repro.
1932
Marle, Raimond van. Le scuole della pittura italiana. 2 vols. The Hague and Florence, 1932-1934: 2(1934):646, 648 n.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 83.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 74, repro.
1972
Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 122, 312, 370, 403, 440, 647.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 216, repro.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:302-303; 2:pl. 216.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 251, repro. 230 (incorrectly identified as repro. of 1937.1.11, Lippo Memmi, Madonna and Child).
1992
Molten, Carol Montfort. The Sienese Painter Martino di Bartolomeo. PhD diss. Indiana University, 1992. Ann Arbor, MI, 1996: 89-90, 260.
1998
Frinta, Mojmír S. Punched Decoration on Late Medieval Panel and Miniature Painting. Prague, 1998: 326, 408.
2005
Colucci, Silvia. "L’iconografia del crocifisso con i dolenti in umiltà: una questione aperta." In Il Crocifisso con i dolenti in umiltà di Paolo di Giovanni Fei: un capolavoro riscoperto. Edited by Alessandro Bagnoli, Silvia Colucci and Veronica Radon. Exh. cat. Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena, 2005: 48.
Inscriptions
on Christ's book: Ego S / um lu / x m / undi / [et] via / veritas / et vita / quise / gui ... (I am the light of the world and the way, the truth and the life; a conflation of John 8:12 and 14:6) [1]
Wikidata ID
Q20173404