Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Francis of Assisi

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

The Virgin Mary holds the Christ Child on one knee and smiles tenderly. Christ reaches playfully toward the hand she raises in invitation to the viewer. They sit on a throne that resembles an altar, a poignant reminder of his eventual self-sacrifice; the artist gives the figures three-dimensionality by setting them against an abstract, richly patterned background. Christ and Mary are joined by Saints Jerome (in red) and Francis (in brown), whose pairing was associated with Franciscan patronage.

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