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A woman sits and supports a baby standing on her lap, both against a gold background in this arched, vertical painting. The woman and baby’s light skin is shaded with faint green, and they have pale pink cheeks. The woman’s body faces us. She tips her head toward the baby who stands on her knee, to our right. The woman looks at us with light brown eyes under curving brows. She has a long, straight nose, and her small pink lips are closed. Her blond hair is mostly covered by a midnight-blue robe that drapes over her shoulders, across her lap, and pools on the floor. The robe is lined with goldenrod yellow, edged with bright gold, and has gold starburst-like designs on the shoulder we can see and top of the head. The dress she wears underneath has more gold stars creating a pattern across the pearl-white fabric. A sky-blue scarf wraps over her head and loops across her shoulders. The baby holds one end of the scarf, and his other elbow rests on the woman’s shoulder. She props him up with both hands. He has a cap of blond curls and chubby cheeks with delicate features. His geranium-red garment falls over a pale blue skirt that reaches his bare feet. In the hand near the woman’s shoulder, he holds a scroll with the letters “EGO S.” The floor beneath them is mint green and has gold writing across the front, reading, “AVE.G ANN O.D M.CCCC.XIII.” The woman and baby’s disc-like gold halos blend into the gold background, which is visibly cracked in some areas. The panel comes to a pointed arch at the top.

Lorenzo Monaco

Madonna and Child, 1413

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 3

Medium

tempera on panel

Dimensions

painted surface: 113.5 × 52.8 cm (44 11/16 × 20 13/16 in.)
overall: 116.3 × 55.6 cm (45 13/16 × 21 7/8 in.)

framed: 127 x 66.2 x 11.4 cm (50 x 26 1/16 x 4 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Samuel H. Kress Collection

Accession Number

1943.4.13

Artists / Makers

Lorenzo Monaco (artist) Florentine, c. 1370 - c. 1425

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Overview

Lorenzo Monaco's delicate and elegant style can be found in a wide range of artistic formats. In addition to paintings on panel and fresco decorations he created manuscript illuminations (the National Gallery of Art owns two: Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter and Praying Prophet), a medium particularly well-suited to his graceful manner. Notice the curve of Jesus’s body as he leans in to his mother, lifting her veil, and the sinuous line of her head and torso. The hem of her blue mantle curls in a rhythmic, calligraphic line. Lorenzo also had a delicate touch with color, and was not afraid to substitute the pastels he preferred for more traditional hues. In place of the red dress more commonly seen in images where the Virgin holds the infant child, Lorenzo has clothed Mary in a fine, light dress embroidered with gold—a splendid garment more common in pictures that present her coronation in heaven.

The painter we know as Lorenzo Monaco was probably called Piero di Giovanni by his friends and family. Names of Renaissance artists can be confusing: is it “Leonardo” or “da Vinci”? It’s Leonardo. In fact surnames were largely an aristocratic preserve during most the Middle Ages and Renaissance; most people were identified by their father’s name, their town, or some distinguishing characteristic. In this case, Piero took the name Lorenzo when—already an accomplished and well-respected artist—he entered a Camaldolese monastery in Florence, in 1391; and his surname Monaco is Italian for “monk.”

Inscription

on the Child's scroll: EGO S[UM...];[1] across the bottom: AVE.G[RATIA?] ... AN[N]O.D[OMINI]. M.CCCC.XIII

Inscription Notes

[1] Fern Rusk Shapley, Catalogue of the Italian Paintings, 2 vols., Washington, DC, 1979: 1:274, reads “EGO S[UM LU]X M[UNDI],” i.e., the words of John 8:12, but what actually remains of the inscription does not allow more than an informed conjecture about the original text. In Don Lorenzo’s Monteoliveto altarpiece of 1410, now in the Accademia in Florence, and in the more or less contemporary altarpiece in the Galleria Comunale at Prato, the scroll reads “EGO SUM VIA VERITAS ET VITA” (John 14:6).

Provenance

Masson collection, Amiens, by 1904.[1] (Édouard Larcade, Paris), by 1927. (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Florence), by 1938;[2] sold September 1939 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1943 to NGA.

[1] Osvald Sirén, Don Lorenzo Monaco, Strasbourg, 1905: 88-89.

[2] Raimond van Marle (The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, 19 vols., The Hague, 1923-1938: 9[1927]: 162) notes that at that time the painting was no longer in the Masson collection. A manuscript annotation on a photo of the painting in the archives of the Biblioteca Berenson at I Tatti, Florence, dated 30 November 1927, states it then belonged to E. Larcade, Paris. Expertises by Giuseppe Fiocco and Wilhelm Suida written in English (apparently for Contini Bonacossi in expectation of the sale to Samuel H. Kress; copies in NGA curatorial files) are dated May 1938. George Pudelko (“The stylistic development of Lorenzo Monaco,” The Burlington Magazine 73 [1938]: 237-248 and 74 [1939]: 76-81) describes the painting as belonging to Alessandro Contini Bonacossi.

[3] The painting was included on a bill of sale between the Kress Foundation and Contini Bonacossi dated 1 September 1939, where it is described as “formerly in the Musee Masson, Amiens and in the Larcade Collection, Saint Germain” (copy in NGA curatorial files). See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1334.

Associated Names

Contini Bonacossi, Alessandro, Count
Kress Foundation, Samuel H.

Exhibition History

1900: Possibly Musée du Louvre, Paris, early 1900s.[1]

2006: Lorenzo Monaco (1370-1425), Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, 2006, unnumbered catalogue.

Exhibition History Notes

[1] Adolphe Giraudon's photograph (Giraudon number 6491) is annotated with the information that the painting was in the Musée du Louvre, Paris; perhaps it was temporarily exhibited there.

Bibliography

1905: Sirén, Osvald. Don Lorenzo Monaco. Strasbourg, 1905: 88-89, 169, 186.

1907: Suida, Wilhelm. "Lorenzo Monaco, Don." In Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Edited by Ulrich Thieme, Felix Becker and Hans Vollmer. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 23(1929):391, 392.

1909: Sirén, Osvald. "Opere sconosciute di Lorenzo Monaco." Rassegna d’arte 9 (1909): repro. 36.

1923: Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 9(1927):162.

1939: Pudelko, Georg. "The Stylistic Development of Lorenzo Monaco, 2." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 74 (1939): 76-77, repro.

1941: National Gallery of Art. Book of Illustrations. Washington, 1941: 133 (repro.), 244.

1941: Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 112, no. 514.

1942: Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 250, repro. 136.

1945: Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 22, repro.

1951: Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 33, repro. 28.

1954: Eisenberg, Marvin. "The Origins and Development of the Early Style of Lorenzo Monaco." Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1954. Ann Arbor, MI, 2011: 313 n. 31.

1958: Amerio, Rosalba. "Lorenzo Monaco." In Enciclopedia Universale dell’Arte. Edited by Istituto per la collaborazione culturale. 15 vols. Florence, 1958-1967: 8(1962):702.

1958: Meiss, Millard. "Four Panels by Lorenzo Monaco." The Burlington Magazine 100 (1958): 195 n. 18.

1959: Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 47, repro.

1960: Fachechi, Grazia Maria. "Lorenzo Monaco." In Dizionario biografico degli italiani. Edited by Alberto Maria Ghisalberti. 82+ vols. Rome, 1960+: 66(2006):85.

1963: Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Florentine School. 2 vols. London, 1963: 2:121.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 78.

1966: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 89, fig. 239.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 68, repro.

1972: Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 111, 315, 646, 664.

1972: "Lorenzo Monaco, Piero di Giovanni." In Dizionario Enciclopedico Bolaffi dei pittori e degli Incisori italiani: dall’XI al XX secolo. Edited by Alberto Bolaffi and Umberto Allemandi. 11 vols. Turin, 1972-1976: 8(1975):44.

1975: Boskovits, Miklós. Pittura fiorentina alla vigilia del Rinascimento, 1370-1400. Florence, 1975: 355.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 200, repro.

1975: Fremantle, Richard. Florentine Gothic Painters from Giotto to Masaccio: A Guide to Painting in and near Florence, 1300 to 1450. London, 1975: repro. 375.

1979: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:274; 2:pl. 188, as Attributed to Lorenzo Monaco.

1980: Cole Ahl, Diane. "Fra Angelico: A New Chronology for the 1420s." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 43 (1980): 368.

1980: Cole, Bruce. Sienese Painting from Its Origins to the Fifteenth Century. New York, 1980: repro. 69-70.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 79, no. 19, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 233, repro.

1988: Boskovits, Miklós, ed. Frühe italienische Malerei: Gemäldegalerie Berlin, Katalog der Gemälde. Translated by Erich Schleier. Berlin, 1988: 50, 62 n. 17.

1989: Eisenberg, Marvin. Lorenzo Monaco. Princeton, 1989: 89, 90, 91, 147, 172-173, fig. 143.

1994: Kanter, Laurence B., Barbara Drake Boehm, Carl Brandon Strehlke, Gaudenz Freuler, and Christa C. Mayer-Thurman. Painting and Illumination in Early Renaissance Florence, 1300-1450. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1994: 222.

1994: Skaug, Erling S. Punch Marks from Giotto to Fra Angelico: Attribution, Chronology, and Workshop Relationships in Tuscan Panel Painting with Particular Consideration to Florence, c. 1330-1430. 2 vols. Oslo, 1994: 1:285; 2:punch chart 8.13.

1998: Frinta, Mojmír S. Punched Decoration on Late Medieval Panel and Miniature Painting. Prague, 1998: 211.

2004: Hiller von Gaertringen, Rudolf. Italienische Gemälde im Städel 1300-1550: Toskana und Umbrien. Kataloge der Gemälde im Städelschen Kunstinstitut Frankfurt am Main. Mainz, 2004: 64.

2004: Strehlke, Carl Brandon. Italian Paintings, 1250-1450, in the John G. Johnson Collection and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 2004: repro. 230.

2004: Vries, Anneke de. "Schilderkunst in Florence tussen 1400 en 1430: een onderzoek naar stijl en stilistische vernieuwing." Ph.D. dissertation, Universiteit Leiden, 2004: 229, fig. 287.

2006: Skaug, Erling S. “Note sulla decorazione a punzone nei dipinti su tavola di Lorenzo Monaco.” In Lorenzo Monaco: Dalla tradizione giottesca al Rinascimento. Edited by Angelo Tartuferi and Daniela Parenti. Exh. cat. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, 2006: 54.

2006: Tartuferi, Angelo, and Daniela Parenti, eds. Lorenzo Monaco: Dalla tradizione giottesca al Rinascimento. Exh. cat. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, 2006: no. 32, 198-199, 212.

2006: Tartuferi, Angelo. “Lorenzo Monaco: Una mostra e alcune osservazioni.” In Lorenzo Monaco: Dalla tradizione giottesca al Rinascimento. Edited by Angelo Tartuferi and Daniela Parenti. Exh. cat. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, 2006: 19.

2007: Caioni, Gabriele, ed. Dagli eredi di Giotto al primo Cinquecento. Exh. cat. Galleria Corsini, Florence, 2007: 61, 63.

2014: Chiodo, Sonia, and Serena Padovani, eds. The Alana Collection, Newark, Delaware, USA. Vol. III: Italian Paintings from the 14th to 16th Century. Florence, 2014: 220, 224.

2016: Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 235-241, color repro.

2022: Tartuferi, Angelo, Lucia Bencistà, and Nicoletta Matteuzzi, eds. Masaccio e i maestri del Rinascimento a confronto. Per celebrare 600 anni del Trittico di San Giovenale. Exh. cat. Museo Masaccio d’Arte Sacra, Reggello, 2022: 122.