Madonna and Child (c. 1330–40): Art, History and Details

Madonna and Child (c. 1330–40) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Andrea Pisano (Italian, c. 1295–1348/49).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

One of the most important and beautiful sculptures that still exist by this artist, this work is believed to be the only sculpture by Andrea Pisano in the US. The attribution to Pisano is based upon a comparison with his bronze reliefs for the Baptistry doors in Florence, fully documented examples of his work. A large body of other statues and reliefs that were unquestionably produced in Andrea's workshop survive. While his style is based upon sculpture typical to Pisa, with its bulk and sense of drama, Pisano was much influenced by the art of Florentine painter Giotto (1267–1337) and by French Gothic metalwork. Pisano became master of works at Orvieto Cathedral in 1347.

Object facts

• Title: Madonna and Child
• Date: c. 1330–40
• Creator attribution: Andrea Pisano (Italian, c. 1295–1348/49)
• Culture: Italy, Florence
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: marble with traces of gilding
• Dimensions: Base: 5 x 15.9 x 15.1 cm (1 15/16 x 6 1/4 x 5 15/16 in.); without base: 32.7 x 15 x 9.6 cm (12 7/8 x 5 7/8 x 3 3/4 in.)
• Collection: MED - Gothic
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1972.51

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Wixom, William D. “A Masterpiece Attributed to Andrea Pisano.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 10 (December 1972): 263–283.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
• Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.