Virgin and Child, with Saints Anthony Abbott, Mark, Severino, and Sebastian

Also known as: Madonna and Child with St. Anthony Abbot, St. Sebastian, St. Mark, and St. Severino

About the Artwork

The finest textiles and dress associated with the aristocracy were often represented in religious paintings. Here, the Virgin is clothed in a fashionably tailored dress with close-fitted sleeves made of luxurious velvet. Gold thread forms the pomegranate pattern on the deep crimson velvet ground. Saint Sebastian (on the right) wears an equally opulent velvet doublet under his sleeveless tunic.

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). 35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951). Draped in Splendor: Renaissance Textiles and the Church. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2003-September 26, 2004).

Quick Overview

Artist: Lorenzo da Sanseverino (Italian, 1468–1500)
Date: c. 1490–96
Medium: tempera on gold wood panel
Dimensions: Framed: 144 x 84.5 x 5 cm (56 11/16 x 33 1/4 x 1 15/16 in.); Unframed: 128.9 x 76 cm (50 3/4 x 29 15/16 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Medieval Art
Credit line: Holden Collection
Accession no.: 1916.800

Provenance

S. Marco, Sanseverino, moved to the cathedral; Venanzio Biglioli, Sanseverino (1834); James Jackon Jarves (1884); Mrs. Liberty E. Holden.

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