Virgin Mary and Child with St. John

Benedetto da Maiano (bottega) XV-XVI sec. d.C.

This is a bas-relief cast in painted stucco and represents a very refined work executed by the workshop of Benedetto da Maiano in the early 16th century. Another version is also on display in the museum in the same room, in painted stucco imitating veined marble, embellished with golden tones and an imitated porphyry border. Both set in a painted poplar tabernacle are common to the domestic devotional furnishings typical of the 15th century.

Technical information

Author: Benedetto da Maiano (bottega)
Title: Virgin Mary and Child with St. John
Date: XV-XVI sec. d.C.
Material and technique: Painted and gilded plaster
Size: 151x88x13 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
First Floor

Derived from a model by Benedetto da Maiano, which was replicated on several occasions in painted stucco, as well as in painted and glazed terracotta. The prototype from which they originate is the Madonna of the Olive Tree made by Benedetto in 1480 for a tabernacle he owned on a farm near Mezzana, now housed in the cathedral.
The image of the two works draws inspiration from the iconography of Filippino Lippi's Pala de' Nerli, preserved in the Church of Santo Spirito in Florence, and other examples of Tuscan painting from the final quarter of the 15th century, to which it refers in the humanised relationship between the Madonna and the Son.
The Nursing Madonna and the Virgin Mary and Child by the same author are also exhibited in the same museum.