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Madonna and Child

ca. 1483–84
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 604

The Madonna and Child are shown in a contemporary Florentine palace. Through the window is an arcade with the armorial device of the wealthy Florentine banker Filippo Strozzi (three crescents). The background evokes the area around the Strozzi villa near Florence. A Black man can be seen on a bridge spearing fish, and outside a house a Black woman performs domestic tasks. Enslaved people from sub-Saharan Africa began arriving in Florence through Portugal in the 1460s, and documents record the presence of enslaved people in Strozzi’s household.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Madonna and Child
  • Artist: Filippino Lippi (Italian, Prato ca. 1457–1504 Florence)
  • Date: ca. 1483–84
  • Medium: Tempera, oil, and gold on wood
  • Dimensions: 32 x 23 1/2 in. (81.3 x 59.7 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Jules Bache Collection, 1949
  • Object Number: 49.7.10
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
The Virgin of the Nativity, Filippino Lippi Italian, Tempera and gold on wood
The Virgin of the Nativity
Workshop of Filippino Lippi
probably ca. 1500
Lobster-Tail Burgonet, Steel, leather, gold, North Italian
Lobster-Tail Burgonet
North Italian
ca. 1610
A Hunting Scene, Piero di Cosimo (Piero di Lorenzo di Piero d'Antonio) Italian, Tempera and oil transferred to Masonite
A Hunting Scene
Piero di Cosimo (Piero di Lorenzo di Piero d'Antonio)
ca. 1494–1500
The Triumph of Fame; (reverse) Impresa of the Medici Family and Arms of the Medici and Tornabuoni Families, Giovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi (called Scheggia) Italian, Tempera, silver, and gold on wood
The Triumph of Fame; (reverse) Impresa of the Medici Family and Arms of the Medici and Tornabuoni Families
Giovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi (called Scheggia)
ca. 1449
The Descent from the Cross, Filippino Lippi Italian, Tempera on wood
The Descent from the Cross
Workshop of Filippino Lippi

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