Getty Museum

Madonna of Humility

Creator

Italian Artist · 1338–1367

Relatively little is known about the life of Guariento di Arpo. Documents first record that he taught painting in Padua, Italy, in 1338. In 1366 he painted a huge fresco of Paradise in the Ducal Palace, the most prominent building in Venice, for the doge, the ruler of Venice. He painted many altarpieces and fresco cycles for churches and small devotional paintings for private worship, but only one

More on Getty ULAN

Date: about 1345–1350
Medium: Tempera and gold leaf on panel
Culture: Italian
Department: Paintings
Institution: Getty Museum

Set against a gold background, the Madonna and Child sit enclosed in a Gothic frame with pointed arches and decorative twisting columns. In this single image, Guariento di Arpo combined three traditional pictorial representations of the Virgin. She sits on the ground nursing the infant Christ as the Madonna of Humility, a representation that emphasizes her role as the compassionate, maternal intercessor for all who pray for Christ's mercy. At the same time, her crown points to her role as the Queen of Heaven. Finally, identified by the golden sun-brooch at her breast and the incised rays that emanate from her, she personifies the apocalyptic woman from the twelfth chapter of the biblical Book of Revelation. Above, a golden aureole of celestial light encloses the blessing figure of God the Father.

View at Getty Museum ↗

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.

Get printable QR codes

Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.

Open this page

See at Getty Museum

Related across collections

Semantically similar works from Getty Museum and other institutions.