Italy / late 1370s
Madonna of Humility
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Madonna of Humility as painting (Italy · late 1370s).
This panel used to be part of a larger altarpiece; it was cut down and reframed some time in the 1800s.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as tempera and gold on wood panel and credits Caterino Veneziano (Italian, active 1362–82).
The museum's collection notes: The Madonna is shown seated on the ground as she nurses the infant Christ in a style of depiction called the "Madonna (or Virgin) of Humility." This type of image shows Mary’s humility, or humilitas in Latin, sitting on the earth just with a cushion in contrast to her usual depiction with a throne. The virtue of humility was propagated especially by St. Francis of Assisi and found its way into painting since the 1350s in the wake of the Black Death.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtMadonna of HumilityOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.