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Carlo Crivelli, Lenti Madonna Artist: Carlo Crivelli Year: 1480Type: tempera and gold on wood Dimensions: 14 7/8 x 10 in. (37.8x25.4 cm)Subject: Mary and Baby Jesus Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Lenti Madonna, Bache Madonna, or Madonna and Child is a tempera and gold painting that was painted on a wooden panel by the Italian Renaissance artist, Carlo Crivelli, in the early 1470s to the late 1480s. The Lenti Madonna's object dimensions, overall, are (14 7/8 x 10 in.) or (37.8x25.4 cm). With the painted surface alone, the painting is (14 3/8 x 9 1/4 in.) or (36.5 x 23.5 cm). Located at the bottom of the art piece, there is an inscription on a depiction of a piece of folded up paper. The inscription says, "OPVS KAROLI CRIVELLI VENETI" or, when translated to English, "Done by Carlo Crivelli from Venice". Currently, it is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The piece had first entered the museum in 1944, for the "The Bache Collection" exhibit that occurred from June 16th to September 30th, 1943.

Small and intended for private devotion, it was probably the work seen by Orsini around 1790 in Pier Giovanni Lenti's house in Ascoli Piceno with a "K" in its signature rather than the more usual "C" - the alternative candidate is the Ancona Madonna (probably c. 1480), but that is signed "CAROLI" not "KAROLI". The first definitive mention of the work dates to 1852, placing it in the Jones Collection in Clytha, from which it passed to the Baring Collection in 1871 and then the Northbrook Collection. The Duveen Brothers acquired it in 1927, ceding it to Jules S. Bache, before finally passing to its present collection.

Description

The Madonna stands half-figure behind a parapet, on which, isolated by a cushion and a hanging cloth (where a hanging card bears the signature), the Child is seated, clutching a little bird in his hands, a symbol of his future Passion. Behind Mary hangs a curtain beyond which a landscape can be seen on the sides, and above hangs a festoon of leaves, large apples and pumpkins.

The painting's miniature preciousness, the splendor of details such as Mary's damask dress, and the extreme attention to details such as the expressive hands of the woman, long and tapered, the cracks in the marble, the fly resting on the parapet, may be influenced by Flemish art.

Stylistic details bring the dating of the work close to works such as the 1476 Altarpiece and the Second Triptych of the Valle Castellamo.

Symbolism

Hanging Fruits and Pickle

The apples and pickle symbolize major key elements of the religious story of the Garden of Eden. The apples in both the painting and story represent the Forbidden fruit, which will poison anyone who ingests them. However, the singular pickle symbolizes the antidote to the poison because it was believed that pickles represented resurrection.

Fly(Insect)

Located at the lower left side of the painting, is a common bug, the fly. However, it is abnormally large as it is not proportionate to the rest of the painting. The fly is in similar size or possibly larger than the feet of the Baby Jesus. With these comparisons, the fly can be identified to be a trompe l’oeil, or a trick of the eye. Intended to mislead the viewers into believing there is an actual fly on the panel, and that the fly is not a part of the actual composition. Crivelli was known for these playful antics when it came to painting flies. At a young age, Crivelli was able to fool Cimabue—Crivelli worked in his studio in his early active years—more than once into trying to brush the flies off his paintings until realizing they were all tricks. These flies were physical signs of self defined superiority of his own skills in naturalism. They were to show off his skills and humor due to the trickery it has resulted in.

Goldfinch(Bird Being Held in Hands)

The European Goldfinch has Christological and metapictorial importance. It commonly symbolizes the Passion of Christ and his Crucifixion. It was during the Renaissance that the Goldfinch was assigned these meanings because of its biblical connections with Jesus Christ. It was expressed in paintings like the Madonna and Child, and stories of the Crucifixion. These symbolic meanings would include: the soul, sacrifice, death, and Resurrection. It was believed that— during Jesus’s Crucifixion—a Goldfinch landed on him as he was nailed to the cross, and began to pluck out the thorns from his crown. This story created biblical symbolism of the color of the bird’s face. The red feathers were symbolically connected to the blood that dripped down Jesus’ face as it removed the thorns. In addition, it explained the Goldfinch’s diet of thorns and thistles.

Noting how the Goldfinch is posed in this painting, it is similar to the one that Jesus is bound to on the cross during his Crucifixion. The Baby Jesus, with both hands, holds and embraces the bird close to the center of his chest. This symbolizes his full acceptance of his density with open arms, as he doesn’t allow the bird to move or escape his grasp. His tiny thumbs push up against the sides of the wings to prevent movement out of its current pose.