MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ST. JOHN AND THREE ANGELS
    Sebastiani Mainardi     Italian     1466-1513
SN 20        Oil on a Round Panel (Tondo)     About 1490

by Robert Anderson.

ARTIST
    Sebastiano Mainardi was a Florentine painter and collaborator of his brother-in-law Domenico Ghirlandaio. He was the son of a wealthy apothecary in San Gimignano, was taken into Ghirlandaio's studio in the 1470's and presumably collaborated on frescos in the choir of St. Maria Novella, Florence. Not much is known about his work for certain but his surviving works were heavily influenced by Ghirlandaio.
    It is known that Mainardi's major works were religious: altarpieces and a number of tondos depicting the Madonna and child with various saints. He also undertook decorative work: he painted a plaster statue of theVirgin, and gilded the marble tomb of St. Bartolo in San Gimignano. In 1501 he frescoed a vault in San Gimignano and in 1504 & 1507 decorated banners for the feast of St. Fina.

SUBJECT
    The painting depicts the Madonna in one of the most common Renaissance types - that of a wealthy, contemporary looking matron playing with her son. St. John the Baptist is seen as a young boy.

PAINTING
    This round painting, called a tondo, has a special meaning derived from its shape. In Italy at the time the picture was painted, a circle was thought to represent eternity, heavenly harmony and perfection. This circular pattern, carefully designed by the artist, is created by the configuration of the figures.
    The Virgin holding the Christ child in her right arm gently caresses the face of the boy (St. John) with her left hand. Her face is striking serene and beautiful - a kind of remote and idealized beauty so popular in the Renaissance. John looks at the Madonna and child with pleasure and adoration. The youths standing behind John are actually angels in attendance on mother and child. These angels and the prominant display of lillies reveal the religious context of the picture.
    The presence of the rather accurate view of Venice seen thru the window has never been explained. The painter did most of his work in Florence - but perhaps the picture, probably taken from a wood-cut, was painted to be sold as a souvenier ?
    The painting has a magnificent gilded, carved wood frame covered with gold. The tondo portion - made around 1500 is thought to be original to the painting. The gilded outer frame was added later, possibly in the late 1800's.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
    A comparison of this painting with that of Mariotto di Nardo's "Madonna and Child in Glory"(c.1400), hanging in the same gallery, illustrates the move from the Gothic to Italian Renaissance painting. We see more rounded figures, perspective, variable lighting and a sense of movement and emotion in Mainardi's painting that is totally lacking in the work by di Nardo.