Madonna and Child
Ambrogio Lorenzetti·1320
Historical Context
This Madonna and Child by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, dating to around 1320, is an early work by one of the most intellectually ambitious painters of the Italian Gothic. Ambrogio, younger brother of Pietro Lorenzetti, would go on to create some of the most innovative paintings of the fourteenth century, including the famous Allegory of Good and Bad Government in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico. Now in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, this devotional panel shows the young artist already developing his distinctive approach to the Madonna theme.
Technical Analysis
Painted in egg tempera on panel with gold ground, the work reveals Ambrogio's early synthesis of Sienese linearism with a sculptural solidity of form. The tender interaction between Mother and Child displays a naturalistic intimacy that would become a hallmark of his mature devotional paintings.
