Madonna and Child (c. 1400): Art, History and Details

Madonna and Child (c. 1400) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Gherardo Starnina (Italian, c. 1360–before 1413).

The work and its context

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

Although Gherardo Starnina is regarded as one of the most important painters of his time in Florence, little is known about him. He probably studied with a well-regarded Florentine painter who made numerous frescoes. He is claimed to have participated in the painting of the frescoes in the Castellani Chapel in Santa Croce, Florence. Documents show that he worked extensively in Spain, specifically Toledo and Valencia, executing many panel paintings and frescoes there. Most of his known paintings are altarpieces, often illustrating scenes from the lives of the saints. Stylistically, Starnina drew from many sources, including the Late Gothic style he witnessed while in Spain, and he developed a uniquely independent, progressive manner. The lyrical grace of this Madonna and her Valencian-style crown owe much to his experience in Spain.

Object facts

• Title: Madonna and Child
• Date: c. 1400
• Creator attribution: Gherardo Starnina (Italian, c. 1360–before 1413)
• Culture: Italy, Florence, active in Spain, late 14th-early 15th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil and gilding on wood panel
• Dimensions: Framed: 80.5 x 53.5 x 5.5 cm (31 11/16 x 21 1/16 x 2 3/16 in.); Unframed: 60.4 x 41.4 cm (23 3/4 x 16 5/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Medieval Art
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1985.8

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1984.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 2 (April 1985): 163–207.
• Bé, Kenneth. "Conservation Treatment of the Pintoricchio Madonna and Child." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 8 (1991): 360-73.
• Martin, Samantha De. “L'influenza italiana sul Gotico spagnolo.” Il Giornale dell'Arte 44, n. 473 (June 2026): 71.

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.