Madonna of Humility
Artist
Stefano da Verona
(Italian, about 1374–about 1438)
Dateabout 1430
Mediumegg tempera, oil, and gold leaf on panel
Dimensionspanel: 60.8 x 43.2 cm (23 15/16 x 17 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1912.63
Label TextThis painting has long been attributed to Stefano da Verona, who was active mostly in northern Italy and who was a proponent of the International Style. Popular throughout Europe toward the end of the fourteenth century, this style embodies a decorative elegance and an interest in minute detail that derive from northern European painting. Here the Virgin is portrayed as the Madonna of Humility: instead of being enthroned, she is seated on a cushion on the ground. In the sky above her appears God the Father with a scepter and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. The rose garden symbolizes the purity of the Virgin, while the music-making angels evoke the refined and grace-filled court life of the very end of the Middle Ages.ProvenanceCollection of C. Fairfax Murray, London, by 1894; Richard Norton, Cambridge, MA, after about 1904; purchased by the Worcester Art Museum, 1912.On View
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