Madonna and Child (Visual Description)

Ornate wooden altarpiece with three painted portraits inside separate pointed arches. Two smaller wings flank a larger central panel, topped with golden ornate carvings, separated by tiered spires. The panel on our left features a bearded man with light skin tone cradling a red box in his arms. On our right, a woman with ashen skin tone wears an orange dress gathered at the front to hold roses. Between them, in the central panel, an oversized woman with ashen skin tone sits on a throne with an infant with light skin tone in her lap – the Madonna and Child. Standing at their feet, two diminutive figures in crowns and floor length capes gaze up at them. Ornate wooden altarpiece with three painted portraits inside separate pointed arches. Two smaller wings flank a larger central panel, topped with golden ornate carvings, separated by tiered spires. The panel on our left features a bearded man with light skin tone cradling a red box in his arms. On our right, a woman with ashen skin tone wears an orange dress gathered at the front to hold roses. Between them, in the central panel, an oversized woman with ashen skin tone sits on a throne with an infant with light skin tone in her lap – the Madonna and Child. Standing at their feet, two diminutive figures in crowns and floor length capes gaze up at them.

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Donors and Saints Dominic and Elizabeth of Hungary, Lippo Vanni (Italy, active 1344-1376) ca. 1343, tempera on wood, 80 1/4 x 102 1/2 x 6 in. Gift of the Kress Foundation

Ornate wooden altarpiece with three painted portraits inside separate pointed arches. Two smaller wings flank a larger central panel, topped with golden ornate carvings, separated by tiered spires. In the portrait on our left, a man with light skin tone, brown hair, and a short brown beard – Saint Dominic – stands in a black cloak facing the center panel, cradling a red box in his arms. On our right, a woman with ashen skin tone and a long thin neck – St Elizabeth of Hungary – faces the central panel with roses in the gathered fabric of her muted orange dress. In the central panel an oversized woman with ashen skin tone, a long neck, and a long thin nose – The Madonna – sits on a red and white throne draped in a black cloak. In her arms is a baby with light skin tone and short golden hair, dressed in a salmon-colored tunic – the Infant Jesus. Both are depicted with golden rings, or halos, behind their heads, and both look down at two knee-high figures standing before the throne. The diminutive figures, who wear crowns and floor-length capes, gaze up at Madonna and Child. Much of the aged paint is cracked, creating a texture that resembles alligator skin.

 

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