Madonna and Child with Angels ANTONIO ROSSELLINO c. 1455

"Antonio Rossellino was among the most gifted sculptors in the generation following Donatello and Luca della Robbia. His reliefs of the Madonna and Child are justly celebrated. This example, carved from mottled brown marble in about 1455-60, is particularly successful. The Virgin sits on an elaborate throne, whose scrolled armrests project in high relief. Both she and the Child in her arms seem strangely subdued, as if they both were transfixed by the vision of Christ's future Passion-----a reflection that renders the protective, caressing gesture of her left hand all the more poignant.

The surface is richly contoured and decorated. Antonio's concern for finish extends to the background, which is enlivened by the heads and feathery wings of seraphim. With the ornamental attention typical of paintings of the period, the fringe of the Virgin's mantle, the halos, and strands of the hair of both Virgin and Child are delicately accented with touches of gilding."------------Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York






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