Madonna of the Rosary

Cerano (Giovan Battista Crespi)

Download hi-res image TITLE Madonna of the Rosary
AUTHOR Cerano (Giovan Battista Crespi)
DATE 1618 - 25
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS cm 275 x 218
INVENTORY 510
ROOM XXX
Work on display

This painting, from the high altar of the church in the Dominican convent of San Lazzaro in Milan, may well have been commissioned from Cerano at the same time as the frescoes painted by Panfilo Nuvolone between 1618 and 1621. The artist here revives a tried-and-tested early 16th century composition but in the lightr of directives issued by the Council of trent, calling for comprehensible narrative and imagery to bolster the faithfuls’ devotion and with which they could easily identify.