Title: Madonna and Child

Artist: Saint Cecilia

Title: Madonna and Child Date: About 1290–95 Artist: Master of Saint Cecilia Artist Details: Italian, active about 1290–1320 Medium: Tempera on panel Description While the Virgin is depicted with Byzantine rigidity, the infant Christ tugs playfully at her mantle—a clear indication of the artist’s concern for faithfully depicting human emotion. This panel thus stands at a crossroads in the representation of the Virgin and Child, epitomizing a challenge that Western European artists would continue to grapple with for centuries: how to capture the essence of maternal love rather than simply producing a holy figure’s likeness.