Madonna of Humility
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Object Label
According to medieval theology, humility was the source of all virtues, an appropriate metaphor for Mary as the Mother of God. In Lorenzo Monaco’s devotional painting Mary is depicted as the Madonna of Humility, seated not on a throne but on a cushion resting on a marble pavement. Pictures like this were in high demand in Florence, and Monaco made several similar versions of this composition, likely for private patrons.
Caption
Lorenzo Monaco Italian, School of Florence, ca. 1370/71–1424. Madonna of Humility, ca. 1415–1420. Tempera and tooled gold on panel with engaged frame, 33 1/4 x 18 7/8 in. (84.5 x 47.9 cm) Frame: 45 3/4 x 26 3/4 x 5 3/4 in. (116.2 x 67.9 x 14.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mary Babbott Ladd, Lydia Babbott Stokes, and Frank L. Babbott, Jr. in memory of their father Frank L. Babbott, 34.842. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 34.842_overall_black_PS22.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Madonna of Humility
Date
ca. 1415–1420
Geography
Place made: Italy
Medium
Tempera and tooled gold on panel with engaged frame
Classification
Dimensions
33 1/4 x 18 7/8 in. (84.5 x 47.9 cm) Frame: 45 3/4 x 26 3/4 x 5 3/4 in. (116.2 x 67.9 x 14.6 cm)
Inscriptions
On base of frame: "AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA D." [Hail Mary Full of Grace]
Credit Line
Gift of Mary Babbott Ladd, Lydia Babbott Stokes, and Frank L. Babbott, Jr. in memory of their father Frank L. Babbott
Accession Number
34.842
Rights
No known copyright restrictions
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Frequent Art Questions
Any egg tempera paintings?
Oh, let me look into that! Are you an artist? I have found that artists are often interested in materials.Sort of! I just came from the library and saw some really amazing egg tempera paintings.Many of the religious paintings in the Beaux-Arts Court, where you are, were painted with tempera. In the Renaissance-era, tempera was mixed with egg and that material practice has been used actually since ancient Egypt through the Renaissance until it was eventually replaced with oil paints.Oh! Awesome! Why was it replaced?Mainly because the effects that can be achieved with oil paints are much greater than with tempera. Artists could achieve more color, depth and contrasts with oil. Oil takes much longer to dry allowing the artist to continually make changes and add layers of color. The surface is often brighter.How can we be sure that we are interpreting the meaning of the symbols correctly? Languages change and words are lost/modified - Are these meaning we derive usually best guesses or do we have concrete links?
That is, actually, quite a big issue for the Catholic Church throughout the Medieval and Renaissance period: How can we be sure the people understand what we want them to understand? Well, to achieve that, they made their stories and figures appear super simple and almost symbol-like! Blue coat, then, "equals" Mary, spotting a gold finch "equals" Jesus, and so on. You can think of these symbols almost like traffic signs - you want to make sure you keep them as simple as possible, because misunderstanding the message can lead to potential trouble.Tell me more.
The “Madonna of Humility” type is characterized by the Virgin sitting on the ground or, as we see here, on a cushion. She is presented as quite literally down-to-earth and therefore relatable.The artist’s name, Lorenzo Monaco, means Lorenzo the Monk and he was indeed a member of the clergy in Florence. He eventually left monastic life to establish a painting workshop, but he maintained the role of deacon.
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