- Gallery Text
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The kneeling group of Franciscan nuns at the foot of the Virgin’s throne makes it clear that this portable reliquary was made for a community of Poor Clare nuns. Their orderly placement beneath the solidly built throne contrasts with the image of the Crucifixion beside it, which amplifies the physical and emotional aspects of the Passion. In that panel, every element is intensified, from the expressively charged angels above the cross to the streams of blood that pool on the rocks of Golgotha.
This painting seems to respond to the Meditationes Vitae Christi (Meditations on the Life of Christ), a popular text written in the early fourteenth century as a devotional tool for Franciscan nuns. Its carefully narrated “meditations” were meant to touch nuns’ emotions and move them to experience the stories of salvation.
- Identification and Creation
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- Object Number
- 1920.5
- People
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Master of Offida, Italian (active c. 1350)
- Title
- The Virgin and Child Enthroned; Christ on the Cross between the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist
- Classification
- Paintings
- Work Type
- painting
- Date
- c. 1350
- Places
- Creation Place: Europe, Italy, Umbria
- Culture
- Italian
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/231709
- Location
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Level 2, Room 2440, Medieval Art, Medieval Art
View this object's location on our interactive map - Physical Descriptions
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- Medium
- Tempera and gold on panel with engaged frame
- Dimensions
- overall: 41 x 53.6 x 3.3 cm (16 1/8 x 21 1/8 x 1 5/16 in.)
left: 40.8 x 26.4 x 3.3 cm (16 1/16 x 10 3/8 x 1 5/16 in.)
right: 40.8 x 26.4 x 3.3 cm (16 1/16 x 10 3/8 x 1 5/16 in.)
- Acquisition and Rights
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- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Harold W. Parsons
- Accession Year
- 1920
- Object Number
- 1920.5
- Division
- European and American Art
- Contact
- am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
- The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.
- Publication History
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Burton B. Fredericksen and Federico Zeri, Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA, 1972), p. 242 [as 14th century Umbria]
Edgar Peters Bowron, European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum: A Summary Catalogue including Paintings in the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), pp. 118, 286, repr. b/w cat. no. 500
- Exhibition History
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32Q: 2440 Medieval, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050
- Subjects and Contexts
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Google Art Project
- Related Works
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This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu