Madonna and Child known as Madonna di Ambro

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About artworks

Title

Madonna and Child known as Madonna di Ambro

Date

After 1187
Artist notes
Spoleto painter active in the late 12th century
Medium
Tempera and gold on canvas mounted on panel

Dimensions

173×66×4,5 cm

Origin

Church of Santa Maria a Graiano, San Pio di Fontecchio (L’Aquila)

Collection

Position

Inventory
OPA 52
Description

The name originates from the inscription on the lower edge of the board. The iconography of the enthroned nursing Madonna underscores the dual human and divine nature of Mary. The sumptuous materiality—combining gold, silver, and lapis lazuli—is accentuated by a monumental, frontal composition that harmonises with vernacular and traditional. The work has been attributed to the painter of the Cross of the Spoleto Cathedral, dated 1187 and conventionally known as “of Alberto Sotio”. At an undeterminate time, the panel was enclosed within a rectangular frame, sacrificing the upper part of the halo. It was restored in 1950 with a walnut insert.

Other artworks

Baptism of Eustace
Madonna and Child
Eustace and his family leave their plague-stricken home
Antiochus and Acacius lead Eustace to Trajan

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