Detail of The Madonna of Humility by Giovanni di Paolo in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, June 2010

Madonna of Humility
Virgin and Child
about 1442
Giovanni di Paolo, Italian (Sienese), born about 1399–died in 1 died in 1482

Dimensions: 61.9 x 48.9 cm (24 3/8 x 19 1/4 in.)

Medium or Technique: Tempera on panel

Classification: Paintings
Type: Religious - Saints

Accession Number: 30.772

Giovanni di Paolo preferred to emphasize religious sentiment and decorative patterning rather than the illusion of depth and three-dimensional form. In this work, the Virgin, seated on the ground to indicate her humility, cradles her child against a backdrop of strawberries and wildflowers and a sheltering screen of fruit trees. In the distance stretches a landscape of cultivated fields, stony roads, and fortified towns. Still in its original frame and in a near-perfect state of preservation, this panel exemplifies the lyrical quality of Sienese painting.

Text from: www.mfa.org/collections/object/madonna-of-humility-32399