Medici Madonna, ca. 1453 – 1460

Malfläche: 53.1 x 37.5 cm
Rahmenmaß: 61.7 x 46.1 x 0.8 cm

Physical Description: Mixed technique on oak

Inventory Number: 850

Acquisition: Acquired in 1833

Status: On display, 2nd upper level, Old Masters, room 5

Texts

About the Work

Soon after his return from a pilgrimage to Rome in 1450, Rogier van der Weyden was commissioned to paint a devotional picture for the Medici, the Florentine bankers’ family. This is evidenced by the choice of the ‘sacra conversazione’ (sacred conversation) – a pictorial type unusual in the North – the Florentine escutcheon with the lily, and above all the identities of the saints accompanying the Virgin: the doctor-saints Cosmas and Damian were the Medici’s patron saints, while Peter and John the Baptist were the baptismal saints of two leading family members, Piero and Giovanni de’ Medici.