Madonna mit Kind

This Madonna and Child by Barnaba da Modena, dating to around 1350 and now in the Museo Civico d'Arte Antica in Turin, exemplifies the Byzantinizing current that persisted in parts of northern Italy well into the Gothic period. Barnaba was the most important painter of fourteenth-century Liguria and Piedmont, working extensively in Genoa and across northwestern Italy. His iconic Madonnas, with their solemn Byzantine frontalality softened by Gothic tenderness, were in high demand throughout the region.

Tempera and gold on panel. Barnaba's technique reveals his deep engagement with Byzantine models in the frontal Virgin type and lavish gold ground, while the softer modeling of the faces and the gentle interaction between Mother and Child reflect Gothic humanizing tendencies.