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A woman holding a baby, who stands on her lap, is flanked by two men in a deep landscape in this horizontal painting. At the center of the composition, the woman sits behind a stone ledge. Her pale-skinned, oval face tips to our left, and she looks down and to our right with brown eyes. She has a long, straight nose, round cheeks, a slight double chin, and her pale lips are closed. A white cloth drapes over a translucent veil that covers her forehead. Her indigo-colored dress is edged with gold writing and ornamental designs against a red and black background. A parchment-brown cloth is tied as a belt under her bust. The nude child with notably pale skin stands on one of her knees, and she holds his other foot with one hand. Her other hand braces his chest, and he holds onto that thumb. His other hand is held up with the thumb and first two fingers raised toward the man to our left, at whom he looks. A halo, drawn as a thin gold line, encircles his blond curls. He has chubby cheeks and thighs but looks seriously at the man to our left. Both men have tanned skin, and they face inward, almost in profile. They are shown from about the hips up on the far side of the stone ledge. The man to our left is balding with a long, white beard. Wrinkles line his forehead and cheeks. He looks off to our right with shadowed eyes, and he has a hooked nose. He wears a tan garment under an ultramarine-blue cloak, which drops from one shoulder and wraps around his hips. He holds one hand to his chest and the other palm up. To our right, the second man looks to our left with deep-set eyes. He has high cheekbones, a straight nose, and his lips are parted. Copper-brown hair falls in shaggy curls to his shoulders, and he has a full, red beard. His hands are together in prayer in front of his chest, and a tall thin stick with a narrow crossbeam to make a cross is tucked into one elbow. His voluminous, carnation-pink robe almost covers a brown, shaggy garment beneath. Beyond the group, rocky cliffs lead back to a castle-like structure to our left and grassy, tree-dotted hills roll into the distance to our right. Pale gray and white clouds drift across a violet-purple and blue-streaked sky across the top quarter of the composition. The artist signed the work as if he had carved into the stone ledge in front of Mary: “IOANNES BAPTISTA PINXIT.”

Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint John the Baptist

Cima da Conegliano

A woman holding a baby, who stands on her lap, is flanked by two men in a deep landscape in this horizontal painting. At the center of the composition, the woman sits behind a stone ledge. Her pale-skinned, oval face tips to our left, and she looks down and to our right with brown eyes. She has a long, straight nose, round cheeks, a slight double chin, and her pale lips are closed. A white cloth drapes over a translucent veil that covers her forehead. Her indigo-colored dress is edged with gold writing and ornamental designs against a red and black background. A parchment-brown cloth is tied as a belt under her bust. The nude child with notably pale skin stands on one of her knees, and she holds his other foot with one hand. Her other hand braces his chest, and he holds onto that thumb. His other hand is held up with the thumb and first two fingers raised toward the man to our left, at whom he looks. A halo, drawn as a thin gold line, encircles his blond curls. He has chubby cheeks and thighs but looks seriously at the man to our left. Both men have tanned skin, and they face inward, almost in profile. They are shown from about the hips up on the far side of the stone ledge. The man to our left is balding with a long, white beard. Wrinkles line his forehead and cheeks. He looks off to our right with shadowed eyes, and he has a hooked nose. He wears a tan garment under an ultramarine-blue cloak, which drops from one shoulder and wraps around his hips. He holds one hand to his chest and the other palm up. To our right, the second man looks to our left with deep-set eyes. He has high cheekbones, a straight nose, and his lips are parted. Copper-brown hair falls in shaggy curls to his shoulders, and he has a full, red beard. His hands are together in prayer in front of his chest, and a tall thin stick with a narrow crossbeam to make a cross is tucked into one elbow. His voluminous, carnation-pink robe almost covers a brown, shaggy garment beneath. Beyond the group, rocky cliffs lead back to a castle-like structure to our left and grassy, tree-dotted hills roll into the distance to our right. Pale gray and white clouds drift across a violet-purple and blue-streaked sky across the top quarter of the composition. The artist signed the work as if he had carved into the stone ledge in front of Mary: “IOANNES BAPTISTA PINXIT.”

Details
Palette

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Medium
oil on poplar panel
Dimensions
painted surface: 102 x 144 cm (40 3/16 x 56 11/16 in.) overall: 104 x 146 cm (40 15/16 x 57 1/2 in.) framed: 154.62 x 186.06 x 10.8 cm (60 7/8 x 73 1/4 x 4 1/4 in.)
Department
CIS-R
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Andrew W. Mellon Collection

Art Genome Taxonomy

10 tags

Subject Matter

  • Madonna and Child Both · 99%

    The title identifies a Madonna and Child, and the image visibly shows a veiled woman holding a nude child standing on her lap.

  • Saints Both · 99%

    The title identifies Saint Jerome and Saint John the Baptist; the image shows two flanking male religious figures, including one carrying a cross staff.

  • Landscapes Both · 99%

    A substantial outdoor setting of cliffs, hills, trees, distant mountains, and a castle-like building occupies the background, consistent with the catalog’s description of a deep landscape.

  • Figures in Nature Both · 94%

    The central sacred figures are placed directly within and visually integrated with a detailed natural landscape.

Styles and Movements

  • Renaissance Art Interpretive · 84%

    The work’s c. 1492/1495 date, Italian devotional subject, and painted form support a Renaissance classification, although the catalog record does not provide a formal style classification.

Medium and Techniques

  • Painting Both · 99%

    The National Gallery of Art classifies the work as a painting, and the supplied image visibly presents a painted, rectangular composition.

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 99%

    The catalog identifies the medium as oil on poplar panel.

  • Oil on Panel Metadata · 99%

    The catalog explicitly identifies the support as a poplar panel and the medium as oil.

Time Periods

  • 15th Century Art Metadata · 99%

    The catalog dates the work to c. 1492/1495, placing it in the fifteenth century.

Cultural and Religious Styles

  • Christian Art and Architecture Both · 99%

    The title and catalog description identify the Madonna, Christ Child, and saints, while the image visibly presents a formal Christian devotional ensemble with a cross-bearing figure.

Source & rights

Cima da Conegliano. Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint John the Baptist. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

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