Madonna and Child with Seraphim and Cherubim 1400

Cennino Cennini, writing in Italy in the late 1300s and early 1400s, made this panel using tempera and gold. It depicts the Virgin Mary, crowned as Queen of Heaven, holding the infant Christ. The Seraphim and Cherubim around them signal the divine status of the figures, but these are also very human depictions. This image comes out of a late-medieval world that was steeped in faith and invested the Church with enormous social power. Mary, as the Mother of God, had a unique place in the religious and cultural life of the period. Guilds and confraternities were devoted to her, and images like this one were often commissioned for private devotion or public display in churches. To understand this artwork better, we can examine the history of religious institutions, and explore the place of faith in people's daily lives. Examining historical documents, such as guild records or religious treatises, will tell us more about the social meanings invested in this image.