(c) 2017 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

(c) 2009 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Virgin and Child

painter Francesco Pesellino (Florence, about 1422 - 1457, Florence)

Dateabout 1453 - 1457

Place MadeFlorence, Tuscany, Italy, Europe

MediumTempera on panel

Dimensions59.7 x 39.5 cm (23 1/2 x 15 9/16 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Accession numberP16w11

Status

Not on view

Web Commentary The most innovative painter in mid fifteenth-century Florence, Pesellino worked for Cosimo de’ Medici and Pope Nicholas V. This painting of the Virgin and Child with a swallow was one of the most reproduced paintings in fifteenth century Florence. Positioned in an architectural niche, the Virgin tenderly supports her child and bows her head, while the Christ Child meets the eye of the viewer and holds a swallow--a symbol of the resurrection. Isabella was a pioneer in collecting Renaissance paintings, and this panel was the first work by Pesellino in an American collection.

Id727664

Last Updated8/9/24

EmbARK ObjectID11745

Source ID921