Maria mit Kind, hl. Sebastian und Antonius

Francesco Francia painted this Madonna and Child with Saints Sebastian and Anthony around 1483 in Bologna. Francia's altarpieces, characterized by their luminous palette and serene compositions, made him the dominant painter of Bologna during the late fifteenth century. The inclusion of plague saint Sebastian suggests the panel was commissioned during or after an epidemic. This work belongs to the Early Renaissance, the transformative period in European art when painters first applied mathematical perspective, naturalistic figure modeling, and archaeological interest in antiquity to the inherited traditions of medieval devotional painting.

Oil on panel with Francia's characteristic golden luminosity and gentle modeling. The sacra conversazione shows his mastery of balanced, harmonious multi-figure composition.