BASTIANI, Lazzaro
(b. ca. 1430, Venezia, d. ca. 1512, Venezia)

Madonna of Humility

c. 1470
Tempera on panel, 80 x 55 cm
Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan

In this composition the theme of the Madonna of Humility is enriched with several iconagraphic motifs ranging from angels crowning the Virgin to God the Father, who appears with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, alluding to the Holy Trinity. The angels in the foreground play the lute and the lira da braccio, while those in the background blow trumpets and recorders.

The painting shows the influence of Antonio Vivarini, whose workshop Bastiani spent his formative years, and of Giovanni Bellini.