The Virgin and Child in Glory

Giovanni Battista Bertucci painted this Virgin and Child in Glory around 1514 for the National Gallery. Bertucci was the leading painter of Faenza in the Romagna, producing altarpieces that served the city's numerous churches and monasteries. The 1510s were a decade of extraordinary artistic achievement across Europe, shaped by the mature works of Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and the Venetian masters.

The panel presents the Virgin and Child in a celestial setting with the clear drawing and bright coloring characteristic of the Romagnol school, with careful attention to the glory of angels surrounding the Madonna.