Madonna and Child with Five Angels

This large painting of the Madonna and Child was in the center of an altarpiece devoted to Saint John the Baptist, which also featured _The Baptism of Christ _and _The Birth, Naming, and Circumcision of Saint John the Baptist_(see Madonna and Child with Five Angels). The altarpiece’s original location is not known, though it was probably featured in a church dedicated to the saint in what is today the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, close to Giovanni Baronzio’s home in Rimini. No documents pertaining to the altarpiece have ever been found. It must have been dismantled by the mid-19th century, when components of it began to appear on the art market. The dispersed parts have been linked to each other through various clues: similar dimensions, related subject matter, the artist’s style, and particular details of technique and execution.

The style of Giovanni Baronzio (Italian, active c. 1320 - 1350) was influenced by the innovations of Giotto (Florentine, c. 1265 - 1337), who had worked in Rimini, and here we see Baronzio trying to give similar volume to his figures. The gold striations of the Virgin’s robe may be a convention of Byzantine art, and they also work as contours to mold the body below. The decorative effects found in all the paintings from the altarpiece also point to Baronzio. Note the painstakingly patterned cloth of honor, the brocade design of the background, and the elaborately tooled halos. Evidence of Baronzio’s fondness for striking color manifests itself in Jesus’s red drapery and the bright green lining of Mary’s robe. Finally, there is a certain playfulness among the angels, almost in a game of hide-and-seek, characteristic of Baronzio’s delight in lively narrative detail.