Virgin and Child
<p>Ercole de’ Roberti’s painting of the Virgin and Child is calm, expressing a gentle melancholy. The artist’s mannerisms are evident in the exaggerated, slender fingers of the Virgin, which seem to barely hold the Christ Child, even as they press into his flesh. Ercole worked in Bologna and, from 1486, in Ferrara, where he was associated with the sophisticated court of the ruling Este family, who supported the arts, sciences, literature, and philosophy.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1490
- Medium
- Tempera or oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 52 × 35 cm (20 1/2 × 13 3/4 in.); Framed: 68 × 51.8 × 7 cm (26 3/4 × 20 3/8 × 2 3/4 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Ercole de' Roberti
Artist
Painting
Ercole de' Roberti, also known as Ercole Ferrarese or Ercole da Ferrara, was an Italian artist of the Early Renaissance and the School of Ferrara. He was profiled in Vasari's Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori. The son of the doorkeeper at the Este castle, Ercole later held the position of court artist for the Este family in Ferrara. According to Vasari:Ercole had an extraordinary love of wine, and his frequent drunkenness did much to shorten his life, which he had enjoyed without any accident up to the age of forty, when he was smitten one day by apoplexy, which made an end of him in a short time.
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Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Ercole de' Roberti
- Year
- 1490
- Medium
- Tempera or oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 52 × 35 cm (20 1/2 × 13 3/4 in.); Framed: 68 × 51.8 × 7 cm (26 3/4 × 20 3/8 × 2 3/4 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1490-143345
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified