Madonna and Child, with Saints Peter and John the Evangelist, and Man of Sorrows [entire triptych] – (Nardo Leonardo Di Cione) ◄ Previous Next ►

Artist: Nardo Leonardo Di Cione

Date: 1360

Size: 76 x 66 cm

Technique: Tempera On Panel

Two painted panels on a gilded, carved, wooden frame are swung open like shutters to show a bearded, gray-haired man wearing robes standing in each wing, on either side of painted central panel with a pointed, arched top showing a woman holding a baby. The woman and child have pale skin and the men to either side have more tanned complexions. Gold halos encircle each person’s head, and the backgrounds of all three panels are bright gold. The woman in the center panel is shown from the hips up with her body facing us. The deep blue mantle that drapes over her shoulders and her dusty rose-pink dress beneath are trimmed in gold. A sheer veil covers her wavy blond hair and a red, triangular form sits above her forehead like a diadem. She looks to our right with dark, almond-shaped eyes. She has a straight nose, her coral-pink lips are closed, and her smooth cheeks are lightly flushed with pale pink. She holds the child in the crook of her left arm, on our right, and rests her other hand in the baby’s lap. He has short, curly blond hair and looks at the woman. He reaches his right arm, farther from us, around his mother’s neck and hooks his other hand in the neckline of her dress. He wears a sheer shirt edged in gold, and the fabric draped around his hips is patterned with tangerine-orange and gold, with lapis-blue clover designs. He has rounded cheeks and a pudgy tummy, but his facial features and arms are more like an adult. Twisted columns separate this central panel from the shutter-like panels to each side. A single person stands in each wing, filling most of the space, and both are angled and look toward the central panel. Both men wear long robes trimmed in gold, and stand on floors patterned with orange, gold, and sparsely spaced royal-blue diamond shapes. The man to our left has short, steel-gray hair and a trimmed beard. Wrinkles line his forehead, and his brow is furrowed. He wears a topaz-blue, long-sleeved garment under a honey-orange robe, the underside of which is ruby-red where it turns back over his wrists and shoulder. He holds a book with a dark cover up in his left hand, farther from us, and a large skeleton key, the length of his forearm, in his other hand. In the right panel, a balding man has a fringe of long, gray hair and a flowing, full beard. His forehead is also creased with wrinkles and his brow is furrowed. The dark, olive-green lining of his rose-pink robe shows where it folds back at his neck, over his wrists, and down the front. His robe covers a topaz-blue garment as well. He holds a book, also with a dark cover, by his side with his left hand, closer to us, and holds up a feather quill with his other hand. The inner edges of the central panel and both wings are decorated with bands of floral and geometric designs punched into the gold backgrounds. In the pointed peak above the central panel, the nude man is shown from the waist up in a three-lobed, clover shape that would be visible even if the wings were closed. The man’s body faces us but his haloed head tips to his right, our left. He has a beard and long brown hair, and a hole dripping blood pierces the back of his left hand, visible on our right as he crosses his arms over his chest. The base of the central panel has gold letters in a dark field: “AVE GRATIA PLENA DO.”