Madonna and Child Enthroned
Medium
tempera and gold on poplar panel
Dimensions
unframed: 113.7 × 54 cm · framed: 122.5 × 61 × 7.5 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1968.206
Tags
About this artwork
Seated on an elaborate throne, the Madonna’s weighty majesty emphasizes her role as the Queen of Heaven as she gazes at her infant son. The child, in turn, stares at the viewer. To Christ’s right is a fluttering goldfinch, a bird that was believed to nest in thorny trees and, according to legend, removed a painful spine from Christ’s crown of thorns. At that moment, a drop of his blood fell onto the goldfinch, forever giving it red markings. The precise identity of this artist has not yet been d...