Medieval Sacred Art - Madonna & Child Genre

It is redundant to say "sacred art" because until the Renaissance and the advent of humanism, all art was sacred, or of a religious nature.

The art here at the Rijksmuseum begins in about the year 1100, before the development of perspective, shading/contouring, or other techniques used to create realism.  This was not a hindrance, as the subjects were not to be equated with mankind.

There were certain conventions painters needed to observe in creating sacred works; for example, the sky was only to be gold leaf, as it was heavenly.  A natural blue sky did not appear in art until the post plague artists, the Limborgini brothers created an illuminated book of the hours in about 1412-1416 for the Duke du Berry.

There were other conventions like the Madonna is always cloaked in blue and then there is an extensive range of symbols meant to teach the masses who couldn't read all about Christianity and the rules of society.

Madonna & Child Genre

Virgin & Child, 1300

This Madonna and child is immediately recognizable from the painting school of Siena, founded by Duccio in the 13th century. The giveaway?  It is at the very beginning of the Gothic era and still bears the tell tale Byzantine style that precedes the Gothic era.  The Byzantine style includes elongation (face, nose, eyes) long sinuous lines, almond shaped eyes, a deep blue cloak with a thin line of gold edging, flat two dimensional appearance and a Christ child that is really just a small adult.  This "Virgin and Child" is from the year 1300, painted by The Master of Badhia a Isola in Siena.

Orcagna's Madonna & Child, Florence 1350

Orcagna was the leading Florentine painter of the mid 14th century. This altarpiece which has survived almost in tact was commissioned in 1350 by a prominent citizen for a side altar in a church.  This work reflects the stiffer, more formal style of the period in a Gothic arched frame.

Madonna of Humility, 1400

"Madonna of Humility" (below) was painted 100 years later during the Italian Renaissance when humanism began.  Fra Filippo Lippi, a Florentine monk who left the order to marry a nun, was one of the most accomplished humanist painters.  He is famous for painting sweet emotional tenderness between mother and child.

The Madonna of Humility genre portrays Mary as a devotional mother either seated on the floor or on a cushion instead of on a throne on display. Fra Filippo Lippi takes liberties by embellishing the gold leaf background for decorative purposes, another humanist touch.  He also uses light-dark techniques for movement and perspective, adding realism to a theme formerly portrayed only as other worldly.