Madonna and Child Enthroned

1455 · San Francesco della Vigna, Venice

religious

This magnificent life-size altarpiece, the only confirmed work by the artist, stands halfway between the aesthetic world of Gothic realism and Renaissance revival of classical antiquity. With a refined naturalistic taste, the painter painstakingly depicted the espalier of roses in the background and the many kind of birds in the foreground. The throne of the Virgin is a complicated structure, with classical details absorbed into a fantastic and eclectic whole.

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About the Artist

Antonio Da Negroponte

Fra Antonio Falier da Negroponte, painter of Greek origin, active in Italy. He came from Negroponte, a Venetian colony, now the island of Euboea in Greece, which fell to the Turks in 1470. In a document of 3 March 1469, Jacopo Bellini nominated his attorney, Alvise Sagundino, Chancellor of the captain of the Venetian fleet, to recover money owed to him by 'Antonio Falirio, painter, resident of Negroponte', threatening the latter with legal proceedings if he failed to pay. Jacopo's death (1470-71) and the fall of Negroponte to the Turks in 1470 make it likely that no further action was taken. Two other documents, one a Venetian missive sent to Crete that mentions a 'frate Antonio da Negroponte' (7 June 1497) and the other a will made by Antonio da Negroponte in Venice (24 July 1449), presumably refer to the same person. The large altarpiece Madonna and Child Enthroned in the Venetian church San Francesco della Vigna is the only confirmed work by the artist.

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