Mary and Child with people in prayer; fragment from the predella of a winged altarpiece
c. 1510
Pine, tempera
32.5 x 97 x 1 cm
Inv. 56.454
Contrary to previous identifications, the people on either side of Mary, who is seated on a throne with the Child in her lap, are not saints kneeling in prayer. Instead they represent ecclesiastical and secular people of differing ranks and social strata. This composition evoking the iconographic type of the Virgin of Mercy certainly belonged to the front of a predella. At the two vertical ends, the painting originally closed with curved sections, while a wooden border is visible along the top and bottom. The background is gilt.
Provenance:
Perhaps from the Ipolyi collection. ‘94. Saints venerating the Madonna. On a gold ground, wood panel, painted in the manner of the 15th c.’ (Lakatos-Balla 294)
Bibliography
Genthon-1948, 121. – Boskovits-Mojzer-Mucsi-1964 (Trónoló Mária a kis Jézussal és szentekkel) 166. – Mucsi-1975, 27, 127 kép. – Lakatos-Balla-2012 294.
Provenance:
Perhaps from the Ipolyi collection. ‘94. Saints venerating the Madonna. On a gold ground, wood panel, painted in the manner of the 15th c.’ (Lakatos-Balla 294)
Bibliography
Genthon-1948, 121. – Boskovits-Mojzer-Mucsi-1964 (Trónoló Mária a kis Jézussal és szentekkel) 166. – Mucsi-1975, 27, 127 kép. – Lakatos-Balla-2012 294.
