Wow, love that little painter. I had never heard of him before. I like the comparison with da Vinci - yes, the darkness is striking but his paintings have never appealed to me. Whereas, I love the light, the delicacy, and the obvious reverence the little painter shows. I've never seen an Angel with jewelry - that was quite different - really loved her grieving expression while holding Our Lord's lifeless arm. Thank you for introducing this artist. I will look up more of his art.
Finally finding time to get to this. What beauty! I know it is very common for figures in religious painting from this era -- as well as before and after? -- to be depicted as having blond hair, strawberry blond. Was it more common when depicting the Christ Child, angels, maidens ... as opposed to other figures? My visual memory tells me yes.
I would imagine blond hair was not terribly uncommon in northern Italy in past centuries. But still it is intriguing, particularly with regard to what those artists and their clients, even the general public, understood about the physical appearance of peoples at the time of Christ in what we today call the Middle East.
In Madonna della Pace, I like that the orb bearing the cross that the Christ child holds is transparent, revealing the palm of the hand. Wonder if the artist's intent was to depict an orb of rock crystal. Glass seems unlikely.
Magnificent. Bookmarked. So much here to marvel at,to revisit. What is name of painting in which the weeping angel appears? And where does one find it?
It's from one of the side panels of the Santa Maria dei Fossi altarpiece. Even in the room with it, you can't get very close to it and I found no photos online. This was scanned from the book I bought at the Perugia National Gallery.
Honestly, the Italian museums are really lagging far behind everyone in getting good quality high res photos of their stuff online. The Uffizi - arguably the most important in the world for Italian art - is about the worst.
thank you!
Lookin good!
Wow, love that little painter. I had never heard of him before. I like the comparison with da Vinci - yes, the darkness is striking but his paintings have never appealed to me. Whereas, I love the light, the delicacy, and the obvious reverence the little painter shows. I've never seen an Angel with jewelry - that was quite different - really loved her grieving expression while holding Our Lord's lifeless arm. Thank you for introducing this artist. I will look up more of his art.
Finally finding time to get to this. What beauty! I know it is very common for figures in religious painting from this era -- as well as before and after? -- to be depicted as having blond hair, strawberry blond. Was it more common when depicting the Christ Child, angels, maidens ... as opposed to other figures? My visual memory tells me yes.
I would imagine blond hair was not terribly uncommon in northern Italy in past centuries. But still it is intriguing, particularly with regard to what those artists and their clients, even the general public, understood about the physical appearance of peoples at the time of Christ in what we today call the Middle East.
In Madonna della Pace, I like that the orb bearing the cross that the Christ child holds is transparent, revealing the palm of the hand. Wonder if the artist's intent was to depict an orb of rock crystal. Glass seems unlikely.
My goodness: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Gallego#/media/File:Fernando_Gallego_001.jpg
the transparent glass orb, representing Christ's dominion over the world, is a holdover from th Byzantine tradition.
Not exactly Gregorian Chant, I know, but the title of this song expresses what I feel every time I visit The Sacred Images Project:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fayL1WTR1Go
Magnificent. Bookmarked. So much here to marvel at,to revisit. What is name of painting in which the weeping angel appears? And where does one find it?
Thank you for this terrific essay.
It's from one of the side panels of the Santa Maria dei Fossi altarpiece. Even in the room with it, you can't get very close to it and I found no photos online. This was scanned from the book I bought at the Perugia National Gallery.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pala_di_Santa_Maria_dei_Fossi#/media/File:Pinturicchio,_pala_di_santa_maria_dei_fossi.jpg
Thank you…I also found no photos online. How odd.
Honestly, the Italian museums are really lagging far behind everyone in getting good quality high res photos of their stuff online. The Uffizi - arguably the most important in the world for Italian art - is about the worst.
Then I’m doubly grateful for your efforts. The paintings you’ve posted in this reflection are captivating.