Virgin and Child with Saints

The Virgin and Child appear surrounded by saints in this Baroque altarpiece from around 1650 at the Pinacoteca di Brera by Pietro da Cortona, the leading painter and architect of Roman High Baroque. Cortona's monumental decorative projects—above all the ceiling of the Palazzo Barberini—established the language of Baroque illusionistic painting. His easel paintings and altarpieces, though less famous than his ceiling frescoes, demonstrate the same dynamic energy and rich colorism on a more intimate scale.

Cortona arranges the sacred figures in a dynamic, asymmetric composition that breaks with the balanced symmetry of Renaissance altarpieces. Rich, warm color and fluid brushwork create an atmosphere of celestial splendor. The figures' animated poses and billowing drapery generate the sense of divine movement and energy characteristic of the Roman Baroque.