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Madonna with Saints

Perino del Vaga (Piero Bonaccorsi)

Basic information

ID: Ж-3626
Author: Perino del Vaga (Piero Bonaccorsi)
Name: Madonna with Saints
Date of creation: 16th c.
Country: Italy
Technique: oil painting
Material: wood tempera oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 69.5 x 56

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: religious
Plot: Madonna with Child, Saint Joseph, and John the Baptist
Provenance: Purchased by the Lviv Regional Department of Culture for the Lviv State Art Gallery, 1957
Exposition: Potocki Palace

Information about author

Author: Perino del Vaga (Piero Bonaccorsi)
Artist's lifetime: 1500–1547
Country: Italy
Biography: Perino del Vaga (1501–1547) (real name: Piero Bonaccorsi) received his early education in Florence under the guidance of his friend Raphael. Around 1516, the painter travelled to Rome with an artist named Vaga, from whom he took his name. Two years later, Perino was invited into Raphael's workshop. The artist stayed in Florence for two years to escape the plague and returned to Italy in 1524. His Roman frescoes reached an extraordinary sophistication and elegance of forms, combining Michelangelo's grandeur and power with Raphael's gracefulness. Perino developed a more ornamental style through contact with the Mannerist painters Rosso Fiorentino and Parmigianino. In 1528, the author arrived in Genoa, where he established a local art school and studied the scenery of Giulio Romano. Upon his return to Rome around 1536, he became the prime painter to Pope Paul III. Perino's painting greatly influenced young artists who developed the high Mannerist style in Rome.

Object description

In the sixteenth century, Italy witnessed changes in the iconographic representation of the Virgin Mary with Child. Their figures became half-length, often accompanied by Saint John and Saint Joseph depictions. In the painting, the infant Jesus is holding onto the Madonna. On the right is little John the Baptist, looking towards Mary, wearing a cilice. On the other side is Saint Joseph, looking reverently at Jesus. Mannerism had several primary visual sources of formation, namely the works of Michelangelo and Raphael, whose features Perino del Vaga skilfully adopted and synthesised.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Madonna with Saints

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