Diptych of the Virgin and Child Enthroned and the Crucifixion (c. 1280): Artwork and History

Diptych of the Virgin and Child Enthroned and the Crucifixion (c. 1280) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Eastern Mediterranean or Italian.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

This diptych, a hinged and portable work used for private devotion, was probably made in the Latin Kingdom established in the Holy Land by the Crusaders. In style, technique, and the use of both Latin and Greek inscriptions, it shows a mixture of Eastern and Western elements. The diptych may have been made by an Italian craftsman, possibly working in the coastal city of Acre, which was the capital of a reduced crusader kingdom in the late 13th century. This type of private devotional work, and related Byzantine models imported back into Western Europe, exerted a powerful influence on later painting in Italy, France, and the Low Countries.

Object facts

• Title: Diptych of the Virgin and Child Enthroned and the Crucifixion
• Date: c. 1280
• Artist attribution: Eastern Mediterranean or Italian
• Place of origin: Italy
• Medium: Tempera on panel
• Dimensions: Overall: 37.9 × 59.1 cm (14 15/16 × 23 5/16 in.); Left wing: 38 × 29.5 cm (14 15/16 × 11 5/8 in.); Right wing: 38 × 29.5 cm (14 15/16 × 11 5/8 in.)
• Type: Painting
• Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
• Reference number: 1933.1035

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.