Lorenzo Monaco

Piero di Giovanni

Florentine, c. 1370 - c. 1425

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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, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1943.4.13

Madonna and Child

Lorenzo Monaco · 1413 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1943.4.13

Lorenzo Monaco, Praying Prophet, 1410/1413, miniature on vellum, Rosenwald Collection, 1950.1.8

Praying Prophet

Lorenzo Monaco · 1410/1413 · miniature on vellum ·  Accession ID  1950.1.8

Lorenzo Monaco, Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter, c. 1395-1400, tempera and gold leaf on vellum, Rosenwald Collection, 1958.8.105

Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter

Lorenzo Monaco · c. 1395-1400 · tempera and gold leaf on vellum ·  Accession ID  1958.8.105

Bibliography

1905

  • Sirén, Osvald. Don Lorenzo Monaco. Strasbourg, 1905.

1907

  • Suida, Wilhelm. "Lorenzo Monaco, Don." In Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Edited by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 23(1929):391-393.

1938

  • Pudelko, Georg. “The Stylistic Development of Lorenzo Monaco, 1.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 73 (1938): 237-248.

1939

  • Pudelko, Georg. “The Stylistic Development of Lorenzo Monaco, 2.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 74 (1939): 76-81.

1958

  • Amerio, Rosalba. "Lorenzo Monaco." In Enciclopedia Universale dell’Arte. Edited by Istituto per la collaborazione culturale. 15 vols. Florence, 1958-1967: 8(1958):701-702.

1960

  • Fachechi, Grazia Maria. "Lorenzo Monaca." In Dizionario biografico degli italiani. Edited by Alberto Maria Ghisalberti. 79+ vols. Rome, 1960+: 66(2006):82-87.

1965

  • Bellosi, Luciano. “Da Spinello Aretino a Lorenzo Monaco.” Paragone 16, no. 187 (1965): 18-43.

1975

  • Boskovits, Miklós. Pittura fiorentina alla vigilia del Rinascimento, 1370-1400. Florence, 1975: 87-88, 132-136, 337-355 et passim.

1989

  • Eisenberg, Marvin. Lorenzo Monaco. Princeton, 1989.

2004

  • Kanter, Laurence B. “Lorenzo Monaco.” In Dizionario biografico dei miniatori italiani: secoli IX – XVI. Edited by Milvia Bollati. Milan, 2004: 399-401.

2006

  • Tartuferi, Angelo, and Daniela Parenti, eds. Lorenzo Monaco: dalla tradizione giottesca al rinascimento. Exh. cat. Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, 2006.

2016

  • Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 233-234.