ANGELICO, Fra
(b. ca. 1400, Vicchio nell Mugello, d. 1455, Roma)

Madonna and Child

c. 1433
Poplar, 70 x 51 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

This humble image by Fra Angelico approaches the new lyricism of Ghiberti, Quercia, and Masolino. Though Fra Angelico has adopted the fourteenth-century devotional formula for his Madonna, with Mary seated close to the ground, he cannot help investing her with a richly tasseled pillow and a lavishly brocaded cloth of honour. Sts Dominic and Peter Martyr are tucked in at the left and right.