"Unusually, this intimate devotional piece is painted on black marble, adding to its considerable impact as a ‘night-piece’. Lorenzo Giustiniani (1381-1455) was not in fact canonised until 1690, many years after this was painted; but he was already regarded as the first Patriarch of Venice, and his power of intercession with the Madonna and familiarity with the company of angels was not in doubt to any Venetian.
The painting was, until 1974, attributed to Alessandro Turchi, but is now correctly given to Ottino.
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