Italian Medieval and Renaissance Paintings and Sculptures

On View: West Building, Main Floor

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367 artworks on view.

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A long haired, bearded man holds a whip and stands in the middle of a crowd of about two dozen people who stand or twist, all in a building with columns and arches in this horizontal painting. Brushstrokes are visible in some areas, especially in the clothing and sky seen through one arch. All the men have light skin with a greenish cast while the women and children have smooth, pale skin. They wear dresses and robes in shades of rose pink, lapis blue, emerald green, or brown. The man at the center, Jesus, stands facing us with his right knee bent and his weight shifted onto his other leg. He holds a short, four-tailed whip in his right hand high and stretched across his body. He tilts his head to our left and looks down in that direction at the person next to him. Jesus has brown hair and wears a dark pink robe under a bright blue cloth that drapes over one shoulder and across the other hip. To our left, two men with bare torsos and raised arms lean away from Jesus. The man closest to him faces away from us as he bends over at the waist and looks over his shoulder at Jesus. That man wears a burnt orange cloth wrapped around his hips over a dark brown skirt, perhaps of a toga. Behind this pair are about a dozen other people and below them, two bare-breasted women recline on steps, their bodies angled to our right. One woman throws her head back against her raised arm, her mouth open and brow gathered. The other woman looks up at Jesus, holding one hand to her bare breast, her lips closed. She rests her right hand, to our left, on a cage holding five white birds on the ground next to her. Next to Jesus, on our right, a wrinkled, balding, gray-haired and bearded man sits on the steps so his knees come toward us. His torso twists to our left so he can rest his chin in his hand as he looks up at Jesus. That elbow and his other hand rest on the handle of a basket filled with gold coins. There are several animals around this man, including two black and white rabbits at his feet, nosing silver objects spilling from a pouch. Nearby, a gray bird sits on the step, and a white lamb with its feet tied to a stick lies belly up next to a wooden box. Behind the man is a crowd of at least eight people, looking at Jesus or each other. A bare-breasted woman guides a naked, toddler-aged child away from this group. A stick balanced across the woman’s far shoulder has a chicken hanging from the front end and a basket hanging behind. Another child lies back on the steps near the right edge of the painting. Next to that child, an open book and a loaf of bread lie beneath a table covered with an orange and brown patterned cloth. The scene takes place in a structure with columns and arched openings. Two people wearing blue robes hustle under one arched opening to our right, which leads back to a shadowed space lit with a chandelier. Blue sky and gray and white clouds are visible through the arch over Jesus, where there are also more sand-brown buildings in the distance. There are statues high up on ledges on either side of that opening. The artist signed the work in white paint in the lower left to the right of the bird cage in Greek letters.

Christ Cleansing the Temple

El Greco

probably before 1570

Oil on panel  Accession ID  1957.14.4

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M28
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A man with light skin with a greenish cast, wearing a slate-blue robe draped over a burgundy-red, ankle-length tunic, stands under an arched opening against a glimmering gold background in this vertical painting. The man’s body faces us but he turns his head to our right and looks off in that direction with dark eyes under curving, dark brows. Like his skin, his white hair and beard has a greenish cast, but is painted with long, curving white lines to indicate the flow of hair. He has a high forehead, a long, thin nose, and his small pink lips are closed. His left arm, on our right, is wrapped in or hidden by his robe, and he holds a parchment-colored scroll in front of his chest with his other hand. His clothing is painted with lines to indicate folds. He wears sandals with thin, mahogany-brown straps on his feet and stands on a pine-green floor. His head is surrounded by a halo created by incising and punching the gold background behind the man. The shoulder-wide halo is decorated with S-shaped spirals and a ring of simple, delicate flowers around the perimeter. The arch above the man is supported by maroon-red columns topped by cobalt-blue, leafy capitals. The corners above the arch are maroon red, and rough, disk-shaped areas in each corner could indicate losses. A web of cracks stretches across the gold areas. Writing along the arch reads, “SANCTVS I HANES SSUM.”

Saint John the Evangelist

Master of Saint Francis

c. 1272

Tempera on panel  Accession ID  1952.5.16

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M1
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This free-standing, painted, terracotta portrait sculpture shows the head, shoulders, and chest of a man with dark hair and a prominent nose. His face and body are angled slightly to our right in this photograph, and he looks down his crooked nose. He has peach-colored skin, which is lightly shadowed around his chin. His thin lips are set in a line, and his brow is furrowed low above his eyes. Chin-length brown hair hangs straight down the sides of his face. His garment has scarlet-red sleeves under a navy-blue tunic, and he wears a red headdress that hangs down to his shoulder over his left ear, on our right. A red scarf drapes across his chest, and the end hangs on his chest on our left. Paint losses on the surface of the sculpture allow the brown terracotta to show through in some areas.

Lorenzo de' Medici

Florentine 16th Century

possibly 1513/1520

Painted terracotta  Accession ID  1943.4.92

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M7
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A young, pale-skinned woman with reddish-blond hair sits with a nearly nude, chubby toddler standing in her lap in this vertical painting. She looks down at him, her body and face angled to our left. Thin lines creating a gold halo fan out from the back of her head. An ivory-white scarf wraps around her head and trails down the back of her neck where it is tucked into a dark, teal-blue cloak covering her shoulders and draping across her lap. Under the robe, she wears a loose, cherry-red gown with vertical pleats over her chest. The baby, also with pale skin, reddish blond hair, and a delicate gold halo, looks up at her face with light brown eyes. He stands on the woman’s right thigh, to our left. One of the woman's hands wraps around his body and supports his legs, while she props up his chest with her other. A length of pale gray fabric wraps over one shoulder and around his stomach. The two are situated in front of a column and pillar supporting a horizontal lintel overhead. The view beyond is of a blue sky over a golden field with dark green conical cypress trees in the distance.

Madonna and Child

Sandro Botticelli

c. 1470

Tempera on panel  Accession ID  1937.1.21

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M7
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A woman sits facing us on a stone bench with her hands in prayer over the head of a baby who sleeps, propped up between the woman’s knees in this vertical painting. The wood panel on which this is painted is framed by carved, curling gold vines encircling two small people in the upper corners. All the people have pale skin, and plate-like, shiny gold halos seem to rest atop the woman and child’s heads. The woman tilts her head to her left, our right, to look toward the baby with lowered eyes. Her skin is smooth and a translucent white cloth covers her head. She wears a cherry-red dress under a teal-blue cloak that falls in folds over her arms and legs, and pools around her shins and feet. She steeples her elongated fingers to touch in front of her chest. The baby wears a forest-green robe and has bare feet. He props his chin on crossed forearms, which rest on the woman’s left leg, to our right. He has blond, curly hair and delicate features. The woman sits on a stone bench with a base decorated with tan designs against a vivid orange background. Tufts of grass grow in a few areas near her feet and the bench in the dirt ground. A cloud of crimson-red, swirling forms, perhaps blossoms, behind the woman is flanked to each side by leafy, dark green bushes bearing green, round fruit. In a roundel made by the scrolling gold vine in the upper left is occupied by a winged angel facing our right in profile. The angel wears a plum-purple robe over a pine-green garment, and holds up the first two fingers of one hand, palm facing out. In the roundel in top right corner, a woman wearing a dark purple robe covering her head and body over a ruby-red dress sits facing our left in profile. She rests one hand on a book on a wooden desk in front of her and the other hand is raised, palm facing out. The background behind the roundels and the pair below is midnight blue.

Madonna and Child in a Garden

Cosmè Tura

c. 1460/1470

Tempera (and possibly oil) on poplar panel  Accession ID  1952.5.29

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M13
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A woman sitting on a throne supports a baby as twelve winged angels look on, all framed in a carved, gilded pointed arch in this vertical panel. It is the center of a three-panel triptych. The background behind all the people is gold, and the top of the panel comes to a rounded, pointed arch under a second taller, sharper point. Trios of spiraling columns frame the left and right sides. The woman, child, and angels all have pale skin tinged faintly with green, and rosy cheeks. They all have blond hair except for the woman, whose hair is covered, and all have plate-like gold halos that overlap, sometimes obscuring the bodies of others. The woman, Mary, faces us from her ivory-white, carved stone throne. She looks slightly above us with brown eyes under delicate brows. She has a small, straight nose, and her narrow pink lips are closed. The lapis-blue robe that covers her head and body is bordered with gold patterns, and has a starburst on her right shoulder, to our left. The pea-green underside of the mantle is visible where it turns over on the sleeves and down the front, and the robe is worn over an ivory-white dress patterned with gold. The child she holds with both hands, Jesus, stands on her lap and wraps one arm around her neck. His other hand grips the high neckline of her dress. He looks up with dark, close-set eyes. He has curly blond hair, a double chin, and rounded cheeks. Two tiny teeth are barely visible below his pink upper lip. Despite the rounded cheeks, his face looks more like that of an adult, and the proportions of his body are also adult-like. He wears a gold-trimmed, pale pink robe over a blue garment, which stops just short of his bare feet. The twelve angels surrounding the throne are grouped in trios, with three looking on to our upper left, three to our upper right, and then two trios gathered in each lower corner. Their wings and robes are painted in tones of celery green, ruby red, butter yellow, and pale rose pink. Each has a triangular diadem above their foreheads. The floor beneath is patterned with gold against a burgundy-red background. Above Mary and Jesus, a bearded man is shown from the chest up in a shape made of three lobes alternating with three points. That man faces us and holds up his right hand, to our left, with the first two fingers raised. He wears a shell-pink garment under a green robe, and holds up an open book with Latin text with his other hand. The frame around Mary, Jesus, and the gable above is carved and gilded. Barely discernable, the panel is inscribed across the bottom below the throne, “AVE MARIA GRATIA PNELA DOMINUS.” The pages of the books read, “EGO SUM A O PRINCI PIU FINIS EGO SUM VI A. VERITAS VITA.”

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Twelve Angels, and with the Blessing Christ [middle panel]

Agnolo Gaddi

shortly before 1387

Tempera on poplar panel  Accession ID  1937.1.4.b

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M2
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Two men with gray hair and beards stand under pointed arches with a winged angel in the triangular gable above, all against a gold background and set within a carved, gold frame in this vertical painting. This is the left wing of a three-panel triptych. The people all have pale skin with rosy cheeks, and the men’s faces are shaded with gray. Each man is set within his own pointed arch. Both of their bodies are angled very slightly to our right, toward the central panel, and they both wear long, voluminous robes. The man on the left gazes over our heads with dark eyes. His long, wavy gray hair frames his tan face, and tufts stick out the top and sides. His celery-green cloak is trimmed with gold, and it drapes over his blush-pink robe. He holds a wooden cross slightly taller than he is, tucked into his left elbow and leaning on that shoulder, to our right. In that hand, he holds a coiled, white rope. His other hand is held up by his waist but is covered with the green cloak. The man to our right looks in that direction. He is mostly bald with a fringe of curly hair over his ears. He wears a loose silvery-white robe and holds a bundle of rods in his right hand, resting on that shoulder. In his other hand, he holds an open book facing us so we can read the Latin text. Both men have halos carved into the gold background, and they stand on a floor patterned with gold and burgundy red. The outer columns of the panel have pairs of twisted shafts that support the gable, which has a circle carved into its center. In that roundel is an angel inside a four-lobed quatrefoil. Shown from the waist up, the angel has blond hair, a diadem, gold and crimson-red wings, and wears a shell-pink robe. Facing our right in profile, two fingers of the right hand are raised. Above the angel, a face is surrounded by blood-red wings, set within a shape that has three lobes alternating with three points. Barely discernable, the panel is inscribed across the bottom below the saints, “S. ANDREAS AP L U S; S. BENEDICTUS ABBAS.” The Latin text in the book reads, “AUSCU LTA.O FILI.PR ECEPTA .MAGIS RI.ET.IN CLINA.AUREM CORDIS.T UI A MONITIONE M.PII.PA TRIS.LI BENTE R.EXCIP E.ET.EF.”

Saint Andrew and Saint Benedict with the Archangel Gabriel [left panel]

Agnolo Gaddi

shortly before 1387

Tempera on poplar panel  Accession ID  1937.1.4.a

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M2
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This altarpiece is made up of three panels, with a woman and baby sitting on a throne surrounded by winged angels at the center and flanked by a panel to either side that each shows two people standing under pointed arches. The background across all the panels is gold, and the top of each panel comes to a triangular point above. Spiraling columns frame and separate the sections. The people and angels have pale or deeply tanned skin, and wear robes in silvery-white, pale pink, celery green, crimson red, or pale yellow. They all have plate-like halos, which overlap for some of the angels around the throne. The floor across all three panels is patterned with gold against a burgundy-red background. The central panel shows a woman, Mary, wearing a lapis-blue robe, propping a standing baby up in her lap with both hands. The baby wraps one arm around her neck and grips the neckline of her dress with the other. The twelve angels around them look on from the sides or from small groups in the lower corners. Above the pointed arch over the throne, a bearded man is shown from the chest up in a shape of three lobes alternating with three points. That man faces us and holds up his right hand, to our left, with the first two fingers raised. He holds up an open book with Latin text with his other hand. In the panel to our left, two men with tan skin and gray hair and beards stand with their bodies angled toward the central panel. The man to our left holds a tall wooden cross and the man to our right holds up an open book with Latin text with one hand and a bundle of rods with the other. The gable above has a circle carved into its center. In that roundel is an angel inside a four-lobed quatrefoil, shown from the waist up facing our right. In the right panel, a man with tanned skin and a woman with pale skin stand under pointed arches. The man, to our left, holds and looks down at the pages of an open red book. To our right, the woman holds a palm frond in one hand and a closed green book in the other, and she stands in the circle of a wooden wheel lined with black spikes. The roundel above the pair shows a woman and a dove inside a four-lobed quatrefoil. Inscriptions appear with gold letters against a gold background across the bottom of each panel, so are difficult to make out. The panel to our left reads, “S. ANDREAS AP L U S; S. BENEDICTUS ABBAS.” Under the central panel, text reads, “AVE MARIA GRATIA PNELA DOMINUS.” The third panel reads, “S. BERNARDUS DOCTOR; S. K TERINA VIRGO.” Latin in the two books held outward is also legible. The book in the leftmost panel reads, “AUSCU LTA.O FILI.PR ECEPTA .MAGIS RI.ET.IN CLINA.AUREM CORDIS.T UI A MONITIONE M.PII.PA TRIS.LI BENTE R.EXCIP E.ET.EF.” In the central panel, the Latin inscription reads, “EGO SUM A O PRINCI PIU FINIS EGO SUM VI A. VERITAS VITA.”

Madonna and Child with Saints Andrew, Benedict, Bernard, and Catherine of Alexandria with Angels [entire triptych]

Agnolo Gaddi

shortly before 1387

Tempera on poplar panel  Accession ID  1937.1.4.a-c

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M2
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A man with deeply tanned skin and a woman with pale skin stand under pointed arches with a woman wearing blue in the triangular gable above, all against a gold background and set within a carved, gold frame in this vertical painting. This is the right wing of a three-panel triptych. The man on the left is mostly bald but has a fringe of tawny brown hair, a forked beard, and he wears a white robe. His body is angled slightly to our left. He looks down at a book held open in both hands. The cover is decorated with gold against a scarlet-red cover. The woman on the right faces us, looking at us with hazel eyes under thin brows. She wears a gold crown on her blond hair, which is gathered at the back of her neck. A pale pink mantle trimmed in gold wraps around her bronze and off-white brocaded gown which is visible at the neckline and hem. The edge of the mantle is turned back to reveal its goldenrod-yellow lining. She holds a green frond up in her right hand, to our left, and in the other hand holds a book with a forest-green cover embellished with gold. A wood wheel studded with short black spikes encircles her feet. Both saints have halos carved into the gold background, and they stand on a floor patterned with gold and burgundy red. The outer columns of the panel have pairs of twisted shafts that support the gable, which has a circle carved into its center. In that roundel is a woman and a dove inside a four-lobed quatrefoil. Shown from the waist up, the woman faces our left almost in profile. She has blond hair under the hood of her blue robe, and wears a rose-pink dress. Her hands are crossed over her chest, and she looks at a white dove flying next to her. Above the roundel, a face is surrounded by blood-red wings, set within a shape that has three lobes alternating with three points. Barely discernable, the panel is inscribed across the bottom below the saints, “S. BERNARDUS DOCTOR; S. K TERINA VIRGO.”

Saint Bernard and Saint Catherine of Alexandria with the Virgin of the Annunciation [right panel]

Agnolo Gaddi

shortly before 1387

Tempera on poplar panel  Accession ID  1937.1.4.c

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M2
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A woman holding a baby sits on a throne in front of a cloth held up by five winged angels in this vertical painting. The woman, baby, and angels all have pale skin tinged with gray, long, straight noses, narrow mouths, almond-shaped eyes, and gold halos. The woman sits with her knees and shoulders squared to us. She looks at us with light brown eyes, and her head tips slightly to the right, toward the baby. A white veil drapes over her head and shoulders, and she wears a slate-blue dress under a teal-green robe, which is lined with pale, spring green. Gold lines densely spaced across the dress and robe suggest folds and wrinkles. She supports the baby’s bottom with her left hand, to our right. He sits upright with his knees and body angled to our left. He reaches up with his right hand, to our left, to touch the woman’s veil, and the other hand rests on an oversized cricket in his lap. He wears a transparent white garment edged with gold and a marigold yellow and coral orange cloth wrapped across his lap over bare feet. His features are small in a round face. He has brown hair, and his hairline is high. The cloth behind the pair is patterned with gray, brick red, and gold. Two angels hold up each long side and one holds up the top. The angels all look in or down. They have brown hair, and wings and robes in shades of golden yellow, pale peach, and celestial blue. The throne has a blocky seat, and the base projects in a semicircle against the navy-blue floor. There are lion finials at the front of each arm. The background is gilded with a leafy pattern in gleaming gold. The upper corners and some areas along the edges are damaged.

Madonna and Child with Five Angels

Giovanni Baronzio

c. 1335

Tempera on panel  Accession ID  1943.4.45

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M1
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Shown from the waist up, a woman wearing a garnet-red robe rests a book and a palm frond against a spiked wheel, all against a gold background in this arched, vertical painting. The woman’s light skin is tinged with pale green, and her cheeks are faint pink. Her shoulders face us, and she slightly looks up and off to our right with gray eyes under curved brows. She has a long, straight nose, and her small, full, bow-shaped lips are closed. Her wavy blond hair is parted down the middle and pulled back at the base of her head. Her red robe has a pattern of delicate diamond shapes and the underside is white, visible where it turns over around the neck. The robe is fastened with a round, gold disk the size of a DVD. Letters there read, “S.K.A.T.E.R.I.N.A.” around the perimeter of a four-lobed, red, blue, and gold geometric design at the center of the brooch. The sky-blue garment beneath her robe has a marine-blue collar. She clasps the palm frond in her left hand, to our right. The hand rests on the book, which is propped against the wheel in front of her, so the frond reaches beyond and above that shoulder, nearly to the edge of the painting. The wheel is edged with short, curving spikes like talons. The woman’s gold crown and round halo blend into the shimmering gold background, which is visibly cracked in some areas. The top of the panel curves up as if into an arch but is cut across the panel over her halo.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Bartolomeo Bulgarini

c. 1335/1340

Tempera on panel  Accession ID  1943.4.20

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M3
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This painting is divided into three vertical panels that show people gathered in different parts of a temple, which spans the composition. Each panel is framed by a white and blue latticed arch. The people’s pale skin is tinged with green and they have rosy cheeks. Almost all of their robes, cloaks, and dresses are edged with gold. The central panel is the widest, about half again as wide as each side panel, and a bit taller than the other two. In it, a young blond girl, Mary, stands with her hands folded together in front of two bearded men. Mary leans slightly away from one of the men and looks off to our left. She wears a pale blue garment densely patterned with glimmering gold. She and one of the men next to her have shiny gold halos. The haloed man slightly bows toward Mary, hands out. His gold robe is lined with red, and he wears a white peaked hat with a gold band around the base. The second man stands behind this pair, his hands lifted, palms out. A rose-pink robe is covered by a crimson-red cloak, and a white cloth covers most of his balding head. This trio stands on a raised platform accessed on three sides by seven steps. Coral-red columns with white capitals hold up gray arches above, which in turn support a rose window at the top center of this panel. Two small boys stand at the base of the steps, their backs to us. Both have blond hair and wear red stockings. One wears a white and gold polka-dotted, high-necked robe and the other wears red and points at Mary. Six people fill the arch to our left. A woman with her head and neck covered by a white veil holds up one hand as she clutches her muted blue, gold-edged cloak around her body. She and the bearded, balding man next to her, who wears blue and pink, both have shiny halos. Three more people are barely visible next to and beyond this pair. The sixth person kneels and crosses the left and center panels. They wear a laurel-green robe and look up at Mary. In the panel to our right, two men stand in front of a balcony occupied by eight blond women. Both men are bearded. One has brown hair covered by a black hood, and he wears a pale blue robe under a shell-pink cloak. He looks off to our left, at Mary, and holds his hands clasped down in front of his torso. The other man looks at the first with one hand raised, the thumb pointing toward the center. He has gray hair covered by a white hood, and wears butterscotch-yellow and red. The women above wear dresses in red, pink, yellow, marine blue, or white dotted with gold. The spaces behind the groups on either side panel are backed by gray stone archways lined with coral-red molding. The floor across all three is patterned with squares and rectangles in red, black, and white. Low, white stone walls span the width of the side panels and open up to the center.

The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple

Paolo di Giovanni Fei

1398-1399

Tempera on wood transferred to hardboard  Accession ID  1961.9.4

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M3
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