Madonna and Child under a Pergola with St John the Baptist and St Onofrius

religious

The painting was originally on the third altar on the left in San Michele in Vicenza, demolished in 1812. It is characterized by an impressive harmony between the bony plasticity of the figures' bodies and the grim, reddish brown shades of their skin. The throne seems to have been carved out of the rock; the canopy, held up by thin saplings, awakens in the viewer the solemn calm of the sacred.

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Madonna and Child under a Pergola with St John the Baptist and St Onofrius

About the Artist

Bartolomeo Montagna

1450 – 1523

Bartolomeo Montagna (actually Bartolomeo Cincani), Italian painter from the Brescia region. His initial training was presumably under Domenico Morone in Verona. He had a distinct Venetian influence, probably in Giovanni Bellini 's studio. He may also have adopted the Mantegnesque severity. His occasional obsession with detail is reminiscent of Carpaccio. He was active in Venice (Scuola di San Marco) and in Verona, mainly however in Vicenza. Powerful use of colour (zinc plating), symmetrical picture composition, and marked light-dark contrasts are his distinguishing characteristics. The Friulian School ( Pellegrino and Pordenone) is indebted to him. Benedetto Montagna, a productive engraver, was his son and pupil.

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