Madonna and Child
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Berlinghiero (Italian, Lucchese; act. by 1228; d. by 1236),ca. 1230
Tempera on wood, with gold ground
31 5/8 x 21 1/8 in. (80.3 x 53.6 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, N.Y. (60.173)This panel, painted with a half-length figure of the Virgin holding the Child in her left arm and gesturing to him with herright, is based on a Byzantine type known as the Virgin Hodegetria. The Greek letters found on the painted gold background translate as "the Mother of God." Jesus holds a scroll in his hand. According to Christian tradition, the original Virgin Hodegetria was painted by the evangelistSaint Luke; thus this particular type of representation of the Virgin and Child was especially revered. The angular face and furrowed brows of the woman, the painting style, with its linear highlights, and the emotional intensity of the whole stem from Byzantine sources.
Berlinghiero is regarded as the most important painter of thirteenth-century Lucca. He was one of the earliest exponents of astyle that in the sixteenth century came to be known as the maniera greca(the Greek way), a term with pejorative connotations at that time. In the twelfth century, however, Byzantine artists were so admired in Italy that they were actively recruited. By the end of the century important centers had been established in Venice, Palermo, and Monte Cassino, where Byzantine works were copied. These artists were possibly responsible for training Italian artists in the "Greek way." The latter appear to have worked inseveral media and over a rather wide geographical area, which mightindicate a high demand for works of a Byzantine persuasion.
The emotional intensity of Byzantine painting seems to correspond to the Italian religious climate. Religious figures such as Saint Francis of Assisi preached an emotional empathetic approach to God.Although similar toicons, it is not clear how these images were used. They may have been madefor secondary altars or for private chapels.
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