Virgin and Child with Saints and Donors (c. 1515): Art, History and Details

Virgin and Child with Saints and Donors (c. 1515) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano (Italian, c. 1459–1518); Workshop.

The work and its context

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

This work reinterprets the most common subject in Renaissance art—the Madonna and Child. The tender relationship of mother and son spoke to Mary’s role as intercessor for humanity, sparked an empathetic relationship with Christ, and helped invest Christian practice with tenderness and compassion. Works at this scale were usually for private devotion, but distinct styles and refined craftsmanship were also appreciated for their artistry and creativity. Here the donors occupy the same landscape as the holy figures, emphasizing how Mary’s compassion extends into our world. This painting was never finished, visible in Saint Anthony Abbot’s beard and the female saint’s empty hand, which makes her identity impossible to pin down.

Object facts

• Title: Virgin and Child with Saints and Donors
• Date: c. 1515
• Creator attribution: Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano (Italian, c. 1459–1518); Workshop
• Culture: Italy, Venice
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on wood
• Dimensions: Framed: 103 x 125 x 16 cm (40 9/16 x 49 3/16 x 6 5/16 in.); Unframed: 56 x 78.8 cm (22 1/16 x 31 in.)
• Collection: P - Italian 16th & 17th Century
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1942.636

A detail from the museum

The two figures who kneel with their hands clasped are likely the donors who commissioned this painting.

Collection credit

Bequest of John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Humfrey, Peter. Cima Da Conegliano. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
• Menegazzi, Luigi. Cima da Conegliano. Treviso: Canova, 1981.
• Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa. Cima da Conegliano: poeta del paesaggio. Venezia: Marsilio, 2010.

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.