# Madonna and Child with Two Angels \(Madonna of Humility\)

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-castello-nativity-r080d6f4b9529ff/madonna-and-child-with-two-angels-madonna-of-humility-rc4bf6387827c1b>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [MASTER of the Castello Nativity](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-castello-nativity-r080d6f4b9529ff>)
- Date: 1401-1450
- Technique: Tempera and gold on wood, 126 x 72 cm

## Commentary

Devotional images of the Madonna seated on the ground, in a position of humility, trace their origin to fourteenth-century Sienese painting. They continued to enjoy widespread popularity throughout Italy in the first half of the fifteenth century. In Florence notable examples were painted by Masaccio, &lt;A onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/m/masolino/panels/madonna.html&#39;\)&#34; HREF=&#34;/html/m/masolino/panels/madonna.html&#34;&gt;Masolino&lt;/A&gt; and &lt;A onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/l/lippi/filippo/1430/2humilit.html&#39;\)&#34; HREF=&#34;/html/l/lippi/filippo/1430/2humilit.html&#34;&gt;Filippo Lippi,&lt;/A&gt; but the largest and most important corpus is that of Fra Angelico \(the earliest examples are in &lt;A onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/a/angelico/13/00humil1.html&#39;\)&#34; HREF=&#34;/html/a/angelico/13/00humil1.html&#34;&gt;St. Petersburg,&lt;/A&gt; &lt;A onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/a/angelico/13/00humil2.html&#39;\)&#34; HREF=&#34;/html/a/angelico/13/00humil2.html&#34;&gt;Pisa&lt;/A&gt; and &lt;A onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/a/angelico/13/01grapes.html&#39;\)&#34; HREF=&#34;/html/a/angelico/13/01grapes.html&#34;&gt;Princeton\).&lt;/A&gt; That the Master of the Castello Nativity studied the work of Fra Angelico is clear not only from the general iconographic features of the painting but from certain motifs, such as the gold embellishment on the sleeve of the angel at the right. Yet, the primary stylistic debt is to Filippo Lippi. The broad-faced figure types and chubby baby belong to Lippi&#39;s repertory, as does the manner in which the drapery of the Virgin is conceived in broad, flat folds.

## Related artworks

- [Madonna Adoring the Infant Christ](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-castello-nativity-r080d6f4b9529ff/madonna-adoring-the-infant-christ-rb7c3baa03b3202>)
- [Madonna and Child Enthroned](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-castello-nativity-r080d6f4b9529ff/madonna-and-child-enthroned-r5dd25284732bc7>)
- [Madonna and Child](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-castello-nativity-r080d6f4b9529ff/madonna-and-child-r52ea8ef65f5ebc>)
- [Madonna and Sts Justus and Clement](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-castello-nativity-r080d6f4b9529ff/madonna-and-sts-justus-and-clement-rbe2494354e72b8>)
- [Sts Justus and Clement Multiplying the Grain of Volterra](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-castello-nativity-r080d6f4b9529ff/sts-justus-and-clement-multiplying-the-grain-of-volterra-rcb82ffcb87bfb4>)
- [Sts Justus and Clement Praying for Deliverance from the Vandals](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-castello-nativity-r080d6f4b9529ff/sts-justus-and-clement-praying-for-deliverance-from-the-vandals-rf9b293124075fd>)
- [The Nativity](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-castello-nativity-r080d6f4b9529ff/the-nativity-r8a75f79e04ec90>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)