Virgin and Child Enthroned

Also known as: Madonna and Child Enthroned

About the Artwork

Rather than depicting a single moment in time, this gold-ground painting symbolically encapsulates Christ. Seated on a rich throne, the monumental Virgin holds the Christ child. Above, the risen Christ is seen in heaven holding a book, inscribed with the alpha and omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, signifying Christ’s role as the beginning and end of all things. The Italian inscription states: "This painting was made for Antonio di Domenicho Giugni for the repose of his soul, the year of our Lord 1419." In the 1300s, Italian painting focused on the heavenly aspects of Christian faith in order to convey abstract religious concepts. Depicted as specimens of formal beauty, sacred figures were placed against an ethereal gold background. Within a hundred years, artists began to highlight the earthly aspects of sacred figures, placing them within naturalistic landscapes. In this newer style of painting, the approachability of sacred figures fostered devotion among the faithful.

Inscriptions

Inscribed at bottom: "QUESTA TAVOLA AFATO FARE ANTONIO DI DOMENICHO / GIUGNI P[ER] RIMEDIO DELA SUA ANIMA ANI DNO. MCCCCXVIIII"

Exhibition history

In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958). Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 13-September 19, 1971). Fra Angelico. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 24, 2005-January 30, 2006). The Art of Devotion: Panel Painting in Early Renaissance Italy. Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, VT (organizer) (September 17-December 13, 2009); Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, MA (February 9-May 31, 2010).

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.

Quick Overview

Artist: Battista di Biagio Sanguigni (Italian, active 1393–1451)
Date: 1419
Medium: tempera and gold on wood
Dimensions: Framed: 196.2 x 68.6 x 9.5 cm (77 1/4 x 27 x 3 3/4 in.); Unframed: 196.2 x 68.2 cm (77 1/4 x 26 7/8 in.); with original molding and pinnacle: 129 x 59 cm (50 13/16 x 23 1/4 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Medieval Art
Credit line: Gift of the Hanna Fund
Accession no.: 1954.834

Open-access museum record · AT-00009163