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

Technical Details
  • Title
    Madonna and Child with St. James of Galicia and St. Helena
  • Author
    Niccolò Pisano (Niccolò di Bartolomeo dell'Abrugia)
  • Year
    1512 - 4
  • Dimensions
    cm 225 x 173
  • Inventory
    171
  • Room
    XXI

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.

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