Madonna and Child c. 1340 - 1350

This ‘Madonna and Child’ was created by Maestro di Sant’Ivo with tempera on wood, sometime before 1390. Tempera is made by binding pigment with egg yolk - a fast-drying, matte medium, unforgiving in application. This means that the artist would have had to plan each area with painstaking care. See how the layers of paint create luminosity, particularly in the golden background, giving a sense of divine presence. The gilding would have been done with utmost precision, using gold leaf applied to a prepared surface, a technique handed down through generations of skilled artisans. The final effect is otherworldly, but there’s also a tactile quality to the work. We can feel the artist's hand in the careful preparation and application of the materials. This intimate connection to materials and making processes is key to understanding the painting’s devotional power, reminding us that artistic skill is a kind of labor, a value in itself.