Madonna and Child with Saintsc. 1490/1500

The painting depicts three adults and a child. The central adult, a woman, holds the child securely to her chest. The woman has pale skin and a white cloth covering her head, and she is wearing a dark cloak over a red robe. The child has curly light brown hair and is unclothed, looking towards the left. A bald man with a white beard, wearing a red garment and holding a key is on the left. On the right, another woman wears a white headscarf and a dark garment, holding a red cross. The background is dark, highlighting the people and their attire. All four of them have thin halos around their heads.

Description from the National Gallery of Art.

An unrecorded artist painted this in about 1490/1500. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

How it was made

Oil on panel

Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes.

Oil paint

Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.