# Madonna and Child [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [SIMONE MARTINI]() - Date: 1301-1350 - Technique: Tempera on wood, gold ground, 59 x 39 cm ## Commentary Madonna and Child c. 1326 Tempera on wood, gold ground, 59 x 39 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Simone Martini imbues the Virgin and Child with a poignant tenderness, as the figures are ensconced within the serpentine curve of the Virgin's mantle, and each gently grasps the other's garment. The curled fingers of the Christ Child's right hand and the underside of His right foot, which pushes playfully against His mother's wrist, are rendered with remarkably convincing foreshortening for this period, attesting to the artist's achievements in capturing naturalistic effects. The present painting formed part of a five-panel polyptych that included, from left to right, St Ansanus \(Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York\), St Peter \(Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid\), the present Madonna and Child, Saint Andrew \(Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York\) and St Luke \(J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles\). Unusually for an altarpiece, the panels are all rectangular - not gabled - and they are all of the same size \(in traditional Italian altarpieces the centre panel is invariable wider than the lateral ones by approximately one third\). Curiously, there is no sign that the panels were hinged together, and this may be important for understanding the function of the altarpiece, as unhinged panels could be re-combined according to need. The panels are attributed to Simone Martini, and they probably formed an altarpiece commissioned from Simone in 1326 for the Palazzo Pubblico. ## Related artworks - [Altar of St Louis of Toulouse \(detail\)]() - [Altar of St Louis of Toulouse: predella]() - [Altar of St Louis of Toulouse]() - [Altar of St Louis of Toulouse \(without predella\)]() - [Annunciation and Two Saints \(detail\)]() - [Annunciation and Two Saints \(detail\)]() - [Annunciation and Two Saints \(detail\)]() - [Annunciation and Two Saints]() - [Blessed Agostino Novello Altarpiece \(detail\)]() - [Blessed Agostino Novello Altarpiece \(detail\)]() - [Blessed Agostino Novello Altarpiece \(detail\)]() - [Blessed Agostino Novello Altarpiece \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()