Madonna and child in glory with female saints
Moretto da Brescia·1540
Historical Context
This Madonna and Child in glory with female saints was painted around 1540 by Moretto for the church of San Giorgio in Braida in Verona. The celestial setting with the Madonna elevated above the saints follows a well-established format for altarpieces depicting the Church Triumphant. The sacra conversazione format, with the Madonna elevated above the assembled saints in heavenly glory, was the dominant altarpiece type in sixteenth-century Verona and Brescia.
Technical Analysis
Moretto creates a luminous celestial zone above contrasting with the earthbound saints below, his silvery light effects lending an ethereal quality to the ascending composition.
