Madonna and Child with Angels

Set against a rocky northern Italian landscape dotted with figures, the Virgin and Child are enthroned within a pavilion supported by angels. Mary holds a pomegranate, a symbol of the Resurrection. The architecture is richly ornamented, occasionally with curious details like the antique portrait medallions in the corners above the columns. A translucent sphere surmounts the structure. This unusual iconographic detail symbolizes Christ’s dominion over the world.

Although from Milan, the painter Protasio Crivelli’s few surviving works are to be found in Naples and its provinces. The pleasure that the artist takes in rendering landscape, architecture, and ornament is characteristic of the naturalistic Milanese tradition. The painting, the artist’s finest, was commissioned by the Neapolitan church of San Pietro ad Aram for its sacristy in 1497 and completed the following year.