Virgin with Child and Saint Anthony the Eremit and Saint Catherine of Alexandria

At the centre of the pointed-arch panel, against a gold background, the Madonna is seated on a backless throne, turned slightly to the right. She wears an ornate dress patterned with gold and buttoned at the front, over which falls a blue mantle with a gold border, descending from her head. The Child, dressed in yellow and wrapped in a pale violet cloth, sits on the Madonna’s left knee. In a twisting movement, he turns towards Saint Catherine, who stands to the right before the throne, and offers her a single flower. Catherine wears a long dress interwoven with gold and a red mantle lined with ermine. In her right hand she holds the palm branch indicating her martyrdom; in her left, a book referring to her wisdom. Beside her is the wheel, the attribute of her martyrdom. On the left side of the painting stands Saint Anthony the Hermit, dressed in monastic habit, holding a pilgrim’s staff in his right hand and a book in his left. Shown in three-quarter profile, he has an expressive, strongly characterized face and a painterly modelled, sculpturally weighty figure. In the depictions of the Madonna, the Christ Child, and Saint Catherine, the painter strove not only for plasticity, but also for a solemn and decorative effect. The painting is first recorded in the museum’s 1948 catalogue. (Prokopp Mária, 1993)

Provenance

Ipolyi collection (?)

Bibliography

• Cséfalvay Pál, szerk.: Keresztény Múzeum, Esztergom. Budapest, 1993. kat. sz. 88, 224. "Bicci di Lorenzo" (Prokopp Mária)
• Boskovits, Miklós: Pittura Fiorentina alla vigilia del Rinascimento 1370–1440. Firenze, 1975, 238, 164- jegyzet, 404- kép
• Mucsi András: Az esztergomi Keresztény Múzeum Régi Képtárának katalógusa. Budapest, 1975, 39;
• Boskovits Miklós-Mojzer Miklós-Mucsi András: Az esztergomi Keresztény Múzeum képtára. Budapest, 1964, 34; "a firenzei Bicci di Lorenzo műhelye"
• Zeri, F. In: Bollettino d'Arte 48 (1963) 24; "Firenze melletti muccianai San Jacopo mesterének (Maestro di San Jacopo a Mucciana) tulajdonítja, aki Agnolo Gaddi műhelyéhez tartozó kismester volt"
• Magyarország műemléki topográfiája I. Esztergom 1. Esztergom műemlékei.összeállította: Genthon István, Budapest, 1948. "XIV. századi sienai festő"