Madonna and Child (Mantegna, Bergamo)

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Madonna and Child
Mantegna, madonna dell'accademia carrara di bergamo.jpg
Artist Andrea Mantegna
Completion date1490-1500
Mediumtempera on flax canvas
Dimensions43 cm× 31 cm(17 in× 12 in)
Location Accademia Carrara, Bergamo

Madonna and Child is a magra-tempera on flax canvas painting by Andrea Mantegna, dating to 1490-1500 or (according to Mauro Lucco) 1463-1465 . [1] It is now in the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo. [2] [3] It dates to after the painter's trip to Rome and belongs to a group of small-format Madonnas for private devotion - others include Madonna with Sleeping Child (Berlin), the Poldi Pezzoli Madonna and the Butler Madonna (New York). [4] The Bergamo work is unique among them in that it has a happy rather than melancholic atmosphere. The Christ Child wears a coral bracelet, formerly an apotropaic symbol and also a foreshadowing of his Passion. [5]

References

  1. (in Italian) Mauro Lucco (ed.), Mantegna a Mantova 1460-1506, exhibition catalogue, Skira Milano, 2006.
  2. Catalogue entry
  3. A 2012 exhibition in which it was exhibited
  4. (in Italian) Tatjana Pauli, Mantegna, serie Art Book, Leonardo Arte, Milano 2001. ISBN   9788883101878
  5. (in Italian) Ettore Camesasca, Mantegna, in AA.VV., Pittori del Rinascimento, Scala, Firenze 2007. ISBN   888117099X