Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints Francis and Giovanni Gualberto (c. 1510–20): Art, History and Details

Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints Francis and Giovanni Gualberto (c. 1510–20) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Benedetto Buglioni (Italian, 1461–1521).

The work and its context

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

The Madonna sits upon a throne with the Christ child standing on her knee. He is steadied by his mother, turning delicately to grasp her robe for support. On the left is Saint Francis, identified by his stigmata. On the right, Saint Giovanni Gualberto is identified by his monk's robe and distinctive processional cross. The brown robes of the saints, the purple of the Virgin's tunic, and the flesh tones of the figures contrast strongly against the bright blue background. In the semicircular sky behind the figures, three winged cherub heads emerge, representing a host of angels. Glazed terracotta is both durable and decorative and the gleaming white of this piece would have stood out in the darkness of a church. The medium was made popular by Renaissance artist Luca della Robbia and came into fashion as a substitute for expensive carved marble. A rounded arch frame embellished with fruit and flower garlands as well as egg-and-dart and cord moldings accompanied the work when it was acquired, but was later determined not to be original and removed. Buglioni's work bears the influence of the della Robbias, particularly in the simple color scheme. Buglioni likely worked in the studio of Luca's nephew, Andrea, where he would have learned the technique of glazing terracotta.

Object facts

• Title: Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints Francis and Giovanni Gualberto
• Date: c. 1510–20
• Creator attribution: Benedetto Buglioni (Italian, 1461–1521)
• Culture: Italy, Florence
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: glazed terracotta
• Dimensions: Overall: 174 x 96 x 27 cm (68 1/2 x 37 13/16 x 10 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Sculpture
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1921.1180

A detail from the museum

The unusual purple hue is particular to the artist.

Collection credit

Gift of J. H. Wade

Further reading listed by the museum

• W. M. M. "An Enthroned Madonna and Child with Saints by Benedetto Buglioni." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 9, no. 2 (February 1922): 22-26.
• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Jenifer Neils. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982.
• Fliegel, Stephen N. " Florentine Terracottas." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 35, no. 10 (December 1995): 8-9.

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.