The Madonna of Humility with the Temptation of Eve

About the Artwork

The Madonna is seated humbly on the ground nursing her child. Saint George and the Archangels Gabriel and Michael kneel nearby, while Christ’s disciples appear radiating from the Madonna’s halo in the form of stars. In contrast with the Virgin’s purity, Eve lies in the lower part of the painting. Coaxed by the serpent, she raises the forbidden fruit to her mouth, thus condemning humankind through her original sin. The juxtaposition of these two images affirms the Incarnation and the role of Christ and the Virgin in the redemption story. The deep scratches on the surface of the panel, especially on the serpent’s face and Eve’s wrist, likely resulted from a zealous Christian’s symbolic attack on the power of evil. The artist, Olivuccio di Ciccarello, is known to have been active in the Marche in central Italy. Little is known of his life except that he was an important and prolific painter in Ancona, where he died. His paintings were formerly attributed to Carlo da Camerino, an apparently nonexistent artist, on the basis of a mistaken reading of his signature on a crucifix.

Provenance

James Jackson Jarves (1884) Mrs. Liberty E. Holden, Cleveland

Exhibition history

Inaugural Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 6-September 20, 1916). The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936). Gothic Art 1360-1440. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 6-September 15, 1963).

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

Quick Overview

Artist: Olivuccio di Ciccarello (Italian, Marche, 1360/65–1439)
Date: c. 1400
Medium: tempera and gold on wood panel
Dimensions: Framed: 191.5 x 99 x 11 cm (75 3/8 x 39 x 4 5/16 in.); Unframed: 181.5 x 88.6 cm (71 7/16 x 34 7/8 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Medieval Art
Credit line: Holden Collection
Accession no.: 1916.795

Open-access museum record · AT-00009266