Madonna of Humility

late 1370s

Caterino Veneziano

(Italian, active 1362–82)

Culture

Italy

Medium

tempera and gold on wood panel

Measurements

Framed: 91.5 x 70 x 4 cm (36 x 27 9/16 x 1 9/16 in.); Unframed: 79.6 x 54.6 cm (31 5/16 x 21 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann 1963.500

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

110A Italian Gothic

Did You Know?

This panel used to be part of a larger altarpiece; it was cut down and reframed some time in the 1800s.

Description

The Madonna is shown seated on the ground as she nurses the infant Christ in a style of depiction called the "Madonna (or Virgin) of Humility." This type of image shows Mary’s humility, or humilitas in Latin, sitting on the earth just with a cushion in contrast to her usual depiction with a throne. The virtue of humility was propagated especially by St. Francis of Assisi and found its way into painting since the 1350s in the wake of the Black Death.