Madonna and Child with St. James of Galicia and St. Helena

Niccolò Pisano (Niccolò di Bartolomeo dell'Abrugia)

Download hi-res image TITLE Madonna and Child with St. James of Galicia and St. Helena
AUTHOR Niccolò Pisano (Niccolò di Bartolomeo dell'Abrugia)
DATE 1512 - 4
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS cm 225 x 173
INVENTORY 171
ROOM XXI
Work on display

This painting adorned an oratory under the patronage of Isabella of Aragon, who also endowed it with a relic of the True Cross. Isabella was a guest at the court of Ferrara after her husband repudiated her. This explains the presence both of St. Helena, who rediscovered the cross on which Jesus was crucified, and of the Spanish St. James of Galicia (or Compostella). The composition is not especially original, but the untroubled gestures and subtly melancholic expressions imbue the picture with a pleasing charm.