Madonna and Child (c. 1350): Art, History and Details

Madonna and Child (c. 1350) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Lippo Memmi (Italian).

The work and its context

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

On the eve of the Battle of Montaperti in 1260, the Tuscan town of Siena was dedicated to the Virgin. Siena’s miraculous victory the following day confirmed its status as the "City of the Virgin" and inspired fervent devotion among its citizens. Marian imagery flourished, and many altarpieces comprising images of the Madonna and Child flanked by saints were made for Sienese churches. This panel once formed part of such an altarpiece. Here, the infant Christ clings to his mother’s clothing. He also holds a scroll that proclaims his special destiny. Lippo Memmi was the brother-in-law of Simone Martini, an extremely influential Sienese painter. The two artists worked closely together, and this Madonna and Child reflects Simone’s aristocratic and elegant style.

Object facts

• Title: Madonna and Child
• Date: c. 1350
• Creator attribution: Lippo Memmi (Italian)
• Culture: Italy, Siena
• Type: Painting
• Technique: tempera and gold on poplar panel
• Dimensions: Framed: 71.3 x 43.8 x 5.7 cm (28 1/16 x 17 1/4 x 2 1/4 in.); Unframed: 71.3 x 44 cm (28 1/16 x 17 5/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Medieval Art
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1952.110

Collection credit

Gift of the Hanna Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Harck, F. "Quadri di Maestri Italiani in Possesso di Privati a Berlino," Archivo Storico dell'arte, Vol. II (1889)
• Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell'arte italiana. Milano: U. Hoepli, 1901.

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.