Madonna with Child and Saint John the Baptist

Severotaliansky maliar okolo polovice 16. storočia

date:
measurements: výška 72.0 cm, šírka 56.8 cm
work type: maliarstvomaľba tabuľová
object type: panel painting
genre: religious motif
material: wood
technique: oil
inscription:
institution: Slovenská národná galéria, SNG
curator: Zuzana Ludiková
inventory number: O 3240
tags: panna mária ježiš dieťa
in collections:
licence: Creative Commons License public domain
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Baby John the Baptist looks at Jesus who blesses him and gives him his hand; Madonna holds both of them as if she is introducing them. The spiritual substance of the scene is presented through the plot and visual symbols. The melancholy emotionality has its obvious origin in the convention which appeared in the period around 1500. 

The simple yet not very innovative paintings featuring Madonna in a group and her coherence with other figures appeared at the end of quattrocento. The composition of forms and illuminated parts were related to experiments with pyramidal composition in Florence. The relief zone, which occupies the front plane, is represented by figures and their rectilinear arrangement in a boundryless (not endless) space.
 
The artist of this panel painting also created a painting with the same theme that was auctioned in 2011 in Vienna and another that was auctioned in 2012 in Florence. He was named according to the location of the altar whose designation led to the attribution of another dozen works to this artist. Ideas about the work of the Master of Serumido are based on knowledge of the Altar of the Virgin Mary with St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Francis and St. George situated in the Church of San Pier Gattolini, which is popularly called the Serumido Church after its patron. Based on the impulse of an unknown donor, the altar itself was intended for the Church of San Jacopo tra’ Fossi.
 
The original articulation of the expressive physiognomies and particularly the obvious manipulation of shapes makes the Master of Serumido a more significant devotee of Piero di Cosimo. His poisonous selection of colors and his improbable portraits created by clumsy technique can only have their source in intellectual requirements. His opinions became topical and popular when the Medici family gained power. 
 

Zuzana Ludiková ● LUDIKOVÁ, Zuzana - BURAN, Dušan. Talianska maľba = Italian Painting. Bratislava : Slovenská národná galéria, 2013. 242 strán. ISBN 9788080591748.