The Madonna of Humility
c. 1430 · Tempera on panel · National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
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About this work
- Artist
- Fra Angelico (c. 1400–1455)
- Year
- c. 1430
- Medium
- Tempera on panel
- Original size
- 60.7 × 45.2 cm
- Collection
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Movement
- Renaissance
The Virgin, in a deep blue mantle over a red dress and a gold halo, sits low on a cushion, her hands crossed on her breast as she looks down at the Christ Child lying across her lap; behind her two small angels hold up a cloth of honour patterned in gold, and the ground is a woven gold carpet. The type, known as the Madonna of Humility, shows the Virgin seated on the ground rather than enthroned, a reference to humility, from the Latin humus, earth. Fra Angelico, a Dominican friar in Fiesole and Florence, painted the small panel in tempera and gold leaf in about 1430, early in his career, when he painted several versions of the subject. Nothing is known of its first owner. It was in an Italian collection before passing in the late nineteenth century to Edward Steinkopff in Sussex and his heirs, then through dealers to The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust in 1936; it was given to the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 1937.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
The Virgin in deep blue against a glowing gold cloth with two small angels, warm and devotional, for a bedroom, landing or quiet study at 16×24 in natural wood. A cream, soft blue or warm white wall; it pairs with The Sistine Madonna.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Renaissance painting
- Era
- 15th century (c. 1430)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- bedroom, hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Madonna of Humility in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Madonna of Humility painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
