Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint John the Baptist c. 1492 - 1495

Cima da Conegliano painted "Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint John the Baptist" in the late 15th or early 16th century. This work emerges during the Renaissance, a time of immense cultural and religious transition in Europe. At its core, the painting presents the Virgin Mary, Christ Child, Saint Jerome, and Saint John the Baptist in a serene landscape. But the idealized figures reflect the social and religious values of the time, particularly around motherhood and divinity. The virgin embodies purity and grace, central to the cultural construction of femininity during the Renaissance. The figures of Saint Jerome and Saint John the Baptist, are rendered with great attention to detail, reflecting the Renaissance humanist interest in individual character and expression. The artist subtly weaves together the divine and the earthly, mirroring the intersection of faith and daily life in Renaissance society. This painting encapsulates the period’s complex negotiation of religious tradition and burgeoning humanism, inviting us to reflect on the shifting cultural values that shaped its creation.