The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 17, 2025

Tempera painted central section of an altarpiece depicting the baby Christ wrapping his arms around Mary' neck, their cheeks pressed together. Mary wears a blue robe, also wrapped over her head, and edged in brown-red. Christ wears a brown robe wrapped with a grey-blue wrap and looks up at Mary while she looks out at us. Angels outlined in wavy lines float against the gold background in the upper corners. All have light skin tones.

Virgin and Child with Saints

c. 1230s

Berlinghiero

(Italian, before 1242)
Italy, 13th century
tempera and gold on wood
Unframed: 42.8 x 27 cm (16 7/8 x 10 5/8 in.)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1966.237.a
Location: 105 Byzantine

Did You Know?

This tabernacle was recognized as being by Berlinghiero while in the the collection of Adolphe Stoclet, a wealthy Belgian engineer and collector.

Description

This small altarpiece, intended for a domestic interior or private chapel, consists of three panels, allowing it to be folded and easily transported. Surrounding the Virgin and Child in the center are various saints. On the left is Saint Andrew crucified, with St. Francis and St. Paul below; on the right, Christ with the instruments of the Passion, and St. Stephen and St. Lawrence below. The long expressive lines that define the clothing and hands of the figures are typical of Byzantine painting, which spread from Constantinople to Italy in the Middle Ages. Berlinghiero is one of the earliest Italian painters known by name. He lived in Lucca, the most important artistic center in Tuscany before the rise of Siena and Florence. Berlinghiero headed a large, influential workshop that included his sons.
  • (Theodore Bonjean, Paris, France)
    -1938
    (Peter Matthiesen, Matthiesen Gallery, London, England)
    After 1938
    Adolphe Stoclet (1871-1949), Brussels, Belgium
    Mme. Michele Stoclet, Barcelona, Spain
    June 30, 1965
    (Sale: Sotherby's, London, June 30, 1965, no. 21)
    -1966
    Rudolf J. Heinemann, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1966-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 1. European Paintings before 1500. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Reproduced: fig. 15, p. 41 - 43
    Sotheby's (Firm). Important Old Master Paintings. 1965. no. 21, p. 20
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 51 archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E. “Golden Anniversary Acquisitions: September 10 through October 16.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 53, no. 7 (1966). no. 56 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 51 archive.org
    Pillsbury, Edmund P. Florence and the Arts; Five Centuries of Patronage. 1971. no. 1
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 62 archive.org
  • Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 13-September 19, 1971).
    Golden Anniversary Acquisitions, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 10-October 16, 1966).
  • {{cite web|title=Virgin and Child with Saints|url=false|author=Berlinghiero|year=c. 1230s|access-date=17 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.237.a