Manuscript Illumination with the Birth of the Virgin in an Initial G, from a Gradual

Don Silvestro de' Gherarducci

ca. 1375 · Tempera, ink, and gold on parchment · Medieval Art

Were it not for the halos, one might think that this scene, painted by a monk celebrated as a painter, illuminator, and successful administrator of Santa Maria degli Angeli, represents morning in a wealthy home in Florence. Surrounded by bright silks on the bed and walls of her chamber, Saint Anne gazes down as midwives bathe her child, the Virgin Mary. Servants enter and exit at the right, one partly hidden by the framing initial. Lilies, symbolic of the Virgin's purity, fill the border; one cuts through the initial below Saint Anne's hand.

Artist

Don Silvestro de' Gherarducci

Date

ca. 1375

Medium

Tempera, ink, and gold on parchment

Culture

Italian

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1921