Madonna of Humility
Medium
tempera and gold on wood panel
Dimensions
unframed: 79.6 × 54.6 cm · framed: 91.5 × 70 × 4 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann
Accession Number
1963.500
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
male
About this artwork
The Madonna is shown seated on the ground as she nurses the infant Christ in a style of depiction called the "Madonna (or Virgin) of Humility." This type of image shows Mary’s humility, or humilitas in Latin, sitting on the earth just with a cushion in contrast to her usual depiction with a throne. The virtue of humility was propagated especially by St. Francis of Assisi and found its way into painting since the 1350s in the wake of the Black Death.