In the centre is the Virgin, surrounded by the rays of the sun & crowned as Queen of Heaven by two angels. On the left-hand shutter is Saint James the Great, & on the right, Saint Cecilia, identifiable from the inscriptions on the original frames. On ...

This painting was probably influenced by a Byzantine icon. It shows the Virgin & Child, together with images which represent the Redemption of Man by Christ: the Annunciation & the Crucifixion. On either side is the Last Judgement, with trumpeting angels calling people from their tombs. It may be missing a gable with the Blessing Redeemer at the top & possibly wings on either side. It was probably made for an individual for private devotion. ...

This is the centre of an altarpiece commissioned by a Pisan notary, Ser Giuliano degli Scarsi, for the chapel of Saint Julian in Santa Maria del Carmine, Pisa. The grapes the Child eats refer to the blood shed on the cross & the wine of the Last Supper. The surface is disfigured by losses & old retouchings & was originally more decorative: the Virgin's dress was a translucent red over silver leaf, which has now dulled. Some smaller fragments of the altarpiece survive in other collections: a Crucifixion over the central panel, & predella panels mainly showing lives of the saints
- John the Baptist, Saint Julian, Saint Peter & Saint Nicholas, with the Adoration of the Kings in the centre. The altarpiece is likely to have been designed as a polyptych. Masaccio was an innovative artist, who influenced the course of the Renaissance in Italy. This altarpiece shows an early use of single-point linear perspective. Elements of the painting meet at a central vanishing-point & are foreshortened to accommodate the viewpoint of the spectator looking up. The figure of the Child is three-dimensional, emphasised by his elliptical halo. Masaccio may been influenced by the sculptor Donatello who is known to have collected payments for the altarpiece on Masaccio's behalf.
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Side panels of the Virgin's life: Left: her birth
- Saint Joachim's offering rejected; an Angel appears to him; the Meeting at
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The inscription refers to the words of God to the serpent after the Fall: 'I will put enmity between you & the woman, between your seed & her seed; he shall crush your head.. .' (Genesis 3: 15) Recent cleaning has established that this painting, long believed to be a copy, is Gossaert's original. It dates from about 1527. ...

The inscription beside the Virgin's left hand (A.A.P.) has been taken to mean ' Andrea di Aloigi [or Andrea da Assisi] painted this'. Andrea di Aloigi from Assisi, also known as 'L' Ingegno' was one of the most accomplished of Perugino's pupils who, according to Vasari, became blind & had to abandon his art in 1501. This work probably dates from the 1490s. The composition is perhaps derived from an altarpiece or other painting in which Christ would have been looking at a saint or donor to his right. ...

The Christ Child holds the Virgin's breast & tugs at her veil. There are several versions of this design by Morales, & from his studio. Morales worked mainly in Badajoz & its neighbourhood in Spain. He was much influenced by Flemish painting &, at second h&, by Leonardo da Vinci. ...

The Christ Child holds a rosary. The book on the parapet is inscribed with passages in Latin from Psalms 51 & 70 used in the morning service, such as 'O Lord open Thou my lips; & my mouth shall show forth Thy praise' & ' Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord'. The Virgin's halo is inscribed with the words of the prayer ' Ave Maria Gratia Plena Domin[us Tecum].. .' (Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord [is with thee]). In the background to the right, the Charterhouse at Pavia is seen in the course of construction which suggests the dating for this picture. Bergognone was one of the leading painters in Milan at the time, & made several paintings for Pavia. ...

The design is based on two Leonardo paintings, the ' Litta Madonna' (St Petersburg, Hermitage) & the ' Madonna of the Yarn-Winder' (known in several versions). The artist's late style is reflected in the draperies & colouring. The figure of the Child is similar to that in Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio's ' Virgin & Child'; both derive from a Leonardo design. ...

This painting is badly worn away. A goldfinch, symbolising the Passion, is shown held captive on a string. The infant Christ is fully dressed: some altarpieces in which the Child is similarly well covered were said to have been commissioned for nuns. ...