Madonna Enthroned with Angels, St. Apollonia, St. Augustine, St. Catherine, St. Joseph, St. Grata, St. Philip Benizzi and St. Barbara (St. Gotthard Altarpiece)

Cariani (Giovanni Busi)

Download hi-res image TITLE Madonna Enthroned with Angels, St. Apollonia, St. Augustine, St. Catherine, St. Joseph, St. Grata, St. Philip Benizzi and St. Barbara (St. Gotthard Altarpiece)
AUTHOR Cariani (Giovanni Busi)
DATE 1517 - 8
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS cm 270 x 211
INVENTORY 196
ROOM XIV
Work on display

The fairly complex composition of this altarpiece, painted between 1517 and 1518 for a confraternity dedicated to St. Joseph, is set off by the rapid play of light and shade. The figures are gathered in a complex, populated landscape at the foot of the upper city of Bergamo in the background. The individually characterised saints are arranged on sloping planes around the group of the Virgin and Child – a group at once isolated and enhanced by the cloth of honour held asymmetrically in place by angels.