Cleveland Museum of Art

Virgin and Child with Saints

Berlinghiero

Date

c. 1230s

Medium

tempera and gold on wood

Culture

Italy

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This small altarpiece, intended for a domestic interior or private chapel, consists of three panels, allowing it to be folded and easily transported. Surrounding the Virgin and Child in the center are various saints. On the left is Saint Andrew crucified, with St. Francis and St. Paul below; on the right, Christ with the instruments of the Passion, and St. Stephen and St. Lawrence below. The long expressive lines that define the clothing and hands of the figures are typical of Byzantine painting, which spread from Constantinople to Italy in the Middle Ages. Berlinghiero is one of the earliest Italian painters known by name. He lived in Lucca, the most important artistic center in Tuscany before the rise of Siena and Florence. Berlinghiero headed a large, influential workshop that included his sons. This tabernacle was recognized as being by Berlinghiero while in the the collection of Adolphe Stoclet, a wealthy Belgian engineer and collector.

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