Virgin and Child (late 1430s): Art, History and Details

Virgin and Child (late 1430s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Rossello di Jacopo Franchi (Italian, c.1376–1457).

The work and its context

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

In his left hand the Christ Child holds a swallow. Swallows were thought to hibernate during winter in nests of mud. Their re-emergence in spring symbolized the Resurrection of Christ. This painting was probably the central panel of an altarpiece. After the altarpiece was broken up, the work was cut into its present octagonal shape.

Object facts

• Title: Virgin and Child
• Date: late 1430s
• Creator attribution: Rossello di Jacopo Franchi (Italian, c.1376–1457)
• Culture: Italy, Florence
• Type: Painting
• Technique: tempera on wood
• Dimensions: Framed: 79.5 x 64 x 5.5 cm (31 5/16 x 25 3/16 x 2 3/16 in.); Unframed: 69.2 x 55.2 cm (27 1/4 x 21 3/4 in.)
• Collection: MED - Medieval Art
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.814

Collection credit

Holden Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Rubinstein-Bloch, Stella. Catalogue of a Collection of Paintings, Etc. Presented by Mrs. Liberty E. Holden to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1917.
• Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 1. European Paintings before 1500. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974.

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.