Madonna enthroned with child with angels and saints

Cima's Madonna Enthroned with Child with Angels and Saints (1492) is an elaborate sacra conversazione demonstrating the fully developed format he would employ throughout his career. The music-making angels beneath the Madonna's throne — a motif derived from Bellini — create the characteristic effect of celestial harmony that distinguished Venetian altarpieces from more austere northern traditions. Cima's combination of the grandeur required for public church altarpieces with the warmth and accessibility that made devotional images effective pastoral tools reflected the specific requirements of the Venetian ecclesiastical market he served so consistently.

Cima achieves a majestic spatial arrangement with his characteristic precision, using an architectural throne and balanced figure grouping to create monumental grandeur, lit by the clear, even light typical of his mature work.