| Circular images of the Madonna, known as tondi, emerged in Florence in the second third of the fifteenth century. Madonna with Child, the Young St John and Two Angels of c. 1500 by Sebastiano Mainardi is of this type. As though introducing him to her son, the Mother of God tenderly raises the young John’s chin. The setting appears to be a room in an Italian palace, its round windows offering a view of the countryside beyond. On the shores of a lake, on which gondolas rock, lies a town, its tall patrician towers reminiscent of those in Mainardi’s home town of San Gimignano which have survived to this day. A church can be seen through the window on the left. From early Christian times, a church was a symbol of Mary, who was called the “house of God” as it was through her that Jesus became incarnate. Sebastiano Mainardi worked in Domenico Ghirlandaio’s workshop, and largely remained faithful to his master’s style. The sharp, almost graphic outlines of his figures are characteristic of Mainardi; despite foreshortening that suggests three-dimensionality, essentially they develop within the picture plane. Strong primary colours, such as red, blue, green and yellow, are arranged in uniform planes of colour. The diffuse light makes the highly delicate faces appear perfectly beautiful but does not produce a convincing illusion of depth. |
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Oil on panel cradled
height 82 cm
Inv.-No. GE853
Provenance: 1890 acquired by Prince Johann II von Liechtenstein in Venice
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