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Madonna and Child (Mantegna, Bergamo)

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Madonna and Child
ArtistAndrea Mantegna
Completion date1490-1500
Mediumtempera on flax canvas
Dimensions43 cm × 31 cm (17 in × 12 in)
LocationAccademia Carrara, Bergamo

Madonna and Child is a magra-tempera on flax canvas painting by Andrea Mantegna, dating to 1490-1500 or (according to Mauro Lucco) 1463-1465 .[1] It is now in the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo.[2][3] It dates to after the painter's trip to Rome and belongs to a group of small-format Madonnas for private devotion - others include Madonna with Sleeping Child (Berlin), the Poldi Pezzoli Madonna and the Butler Madonna (New York).[4] The Bergamo work is unique among them in that it has a happy rather than melancholic atmosphere. The Christ Child wears a coral bracelet, formerly an apotropaic symbol and also a foreshadowing of his Passion.[5]

References

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  1. ^ (in Italian) Mauro Lucco (ed.), Mantegna a Mantova 1460-1506, exhibition catalogue, Skira Milano, 2006.
  2. ^ Catalogue entry
  3. ^ A 2012 exhibition in which it was exhibited
  4. ^ (in Italian) Tatjana Pauli, Mantegna, serie Art Book, Leonardo Arte, Milano 2001. ISBN 9788883101878
  5. ^ (in Italian) Ettore Camesasca, Mantegna, in AA.VV., Pittori del Rinascimento, Scala, Firenze 2007. ISBN 888117099X