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Piero della Francesca, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels
Piero della Francesca
Italian, c. 1415/20–1492
Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels
c. 1460–70
The Virgin Mary and Jesus are attended by angels, whose wings are partly visible. The angel in red directs our attention to the infant reaching for a flower offered by his mother, an interaction which may symbolize divine love or allude to Jesus’s fate. The angel in white casts a shadow across the base of Mary’s throne, suggesting the painting originally hung to the right of a window.
Piero was an influential artist and mathematician particularly interested in perspective and in Greco-Roman antiquity. In this enigmatic painting, the figures seem three-dimensional, like marble statues, and occupy a space inspired by classical architecture.
Medium
oil possibly with some tempera on panel, transferred to fabric on panel
Dimensions
42 7/16 x 30 7/8 in. (107.8 x 78.4 cm)
Frame: 54 1/8 x 41 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. (137.5 x 106 x 11.4 cm)
Object Number
1955.948
Acquisition
Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status
On View
Image Caption
Piero della Francesca, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels, c. 1460–70, oil possibly with some tempera on panel, transferred to fabric on panel. Clark Art Institute, 1955.948
Select Bibliography
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