Surrounded by multi-winged seraphim, the Virgin Mary is presented holding the infant Jesus, who reac
Surrounded by multi-winged seraphim, the Virgin Mary is presented holding the infant Jesus, who reaches tenderly for his mother and slightly touches her diaphanous veil. The artist achieved a variety of luminous effects by stamping and tooling gold, applying translucent paints over gold, and setting glass gems within Mary’s crown. Seen in candlelight, the whole ensemble would have been spectacularly spiritual. The artist, Giovanni di Paolo (about 1399–1482) was a manuscript illuminator and panel painter and one of the most distinctive and imaginative artists working in Siena, Italy, during the Renaissance. He received prestigious commissions over the course of his lengthy career from a range of patrons. An exhibition at the Getty Museum reunites several panels from one of his most important commissions—an altarpiece for the Branchini family chapel in the church of San Domenico in Siena—for the first time since its dispersal, and presents illuminated manuscripts and paintings by Giovanni and by his close collaborators and contemporaries. The Shimmer of Gold: Giovanni di Paolo in Renaissance Sienna is on view through January 8, 2017, at the Getty Center. -- source link
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