Description

The foreground of this triptych depicts the Madonna and the Christ Child united in a tender embrace. The left lateral shutter door displays St. John the Evangelist with the Gospel and a martyr holding a palm frond symbolic of the victory of martyrs. The right lateral shutter displays St. Catherine of Alexandria with a crown, palm frond, and spiked wheel, the instrument of her torture, and Saint John the Baptist wearing a cloak over his traditional camel hair garment and displaying a scroll with the inscription: Ecce Agnus Dei.

The figure of the Madonna depicted in the oversized, central compartment of the triptych is most likely derived from an older model, one that was particularly revered at the time of the artist but has since been lost. This older model would have been created by a copyist closely imitating the Byzantine iconography of the Theotókos Glykophilousa, or “the Mother of God who sweetly loves her Son.” In this triptych, the artist has renewed and enriched this venerated, popular icon model by modifying the appearance of the Madonna’s mantle, which the artist has painted with sumptuous fabric preciously embroidered with phytomorphic and floral motifs. The artist has also inscribed the halo of the Madonna with the Gothic script: ave maria gratia plena dominus tecu(m). As narrated in the Gospel of Luke (1, 26-38), it is with these words that the Archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin, gathered in prayer, that she is to give birth to the Son of God. It is precisely this scene that is depicted in the center of the triptych, at the center of which appears the figure of God the Father amidst the celestial spheres. 

The images of the characters stand out against the background of thickly-applied gold leaf decorated with leaves and flower clusters on the lobed margin. This type of ornamentation of the late Gothic style recalls the work of goldsmiths in Northern Europe, but such techniques in metalwork were also present in central-southern Italy and in the region of Umbria and Orvieto. 

This triptych was originally believed to be of Senese origin around the years 1355-1388, and was attributed to the artist Niccolò di Bonaccorso. Later dating by the Vatican Museums pushed the estimated date of the triptych to the second decade of the fifteenth century based on the precise choices made by the artist and the archaizing character of the work. It was during the studies of the painting performed by the Vatican that the triptych was identified as belonging to the early work of an anonymous painter active from the second to the fourth decades of the fifteenth century in the Marche and in Rome, known conventionally as the “Master of the Brancaccio Triptych” after his well known triptych created for the Cardinal Rinaldo Brancaccio in c. 1425-1427, now kept in the Piersanti Museum of Matelica. This work reinforces the historical conception of fifteenth century Italy, particularly its central regions, as alive with an interest in the ancient icons and their repetition by means of copies or newly created icons due to a strong cultural link with the iconographic heritage tradition nascent in ancient history and continued into the Early Renaissance period. In Rome, for example, the last decades of the fifteenth century would feature well-known painters such as Antoniazzo Romano and Melozzo da Forlì creating famous copies of ancient Madonna icons widely-used in popular devotion, such as those in Santa Maria Maggiore, the Salus Populi Romani, and Santa Maria del Popolo.

State of Preservation

The work displays oxidation of the original varnish, fissures and cracks on the painted surface, and the presence of possible previous restorations and repaintings.

Restoration Procedures

• Consolidation of wooden panels

• Cleaning and consolidation of the pictorial surfaces

• Aesthetic retouching of the pictorial surfaces

• Anoxic treatment

• Application of varnishes

• Photographic documentation

This precious Vatican triptych has been considered a fourteenth-century work for a long time. Most recent studies postdated the triptych to the second decade of the fifteenth century and recognized it as an early work by the so-called Master of the Brancaccio Triptych. The unknown Maestro, active from the second to the fourth decade of the fifteenth century in the Marche and Rome, takes its name from his best-known work, the triptych made for Cardinal Rinaldo Brancaccio (1425/1427), now in the Piersanti Museum in Matelica.

During the restoration, scientific studies of the Vatican triptych verified that the style, technique, and iconography belong to the late Gothic culture of the early fifteenth century.

The restoration brought back the bright and enameled colors characteristic of the miniature and painting of central Italy from the first decades of the fifteenth century. The refined quality of the painted fabrics and the engraved and punched decorations of the gold background are enhanced.

By observing the structure of the triptych and analyzing the composition as a whole, you can retrace the devotional and meditative path of the owner (or owner) who was likely to also be the client.

The reading of the image begins in the cusps. In the central panel, the figure of God, the blessing Father who appears among the celestial spheres, is represented in guilt. On the sides, the announcing angel and the Virgin are intently reading while the dove of the Holy Spirit approaches her. In the central panel, the face of the Madonna and Child who kisses her tenderly takes up the entirety of the space. These images allude to the mystery of the divine incarnation of the Word.

In the side doors, the saints (Giovanni Evangelista, Giovanni Evangelista, and Catherine of Alexandria) and a martyr are certainly represented at the request of the client. The saints are linked to different values: often because they were eponyms of the donor or because they were patrons of corporations or brotherhoods.

The large image of the face of Mary kissed by the Child is in the center of the triptych. The first evidence of this iconography is in the ancient Byzantine icons in the typology of Theotókos Glykophilousa, the Mother of God of Tenderness. Although the theme chosen is ancient, the reference model of the Vatican triptych is updated in a closer language. A model could have been, for example, the beautiful Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels, attributed to Duccio di Boninsegna, dated around 1290, now in the Kunstmuseum in Bern. Here the Virgin gently brings her face close to that of the Son who embraces her. Of a similar image, the painter proposes only the great face of Mary and the Child, the fulcrum of the representation. In the early decades of the fifteenth century, especially in the central regions of Italy, there was a strong interest in ancient icons, which are re-proposed with copies or new interpretations. In addition to the strong link with the iconographic heritage of tradition, the expression of a different sensitivity is also observed in the Madonna of the Vatican triptych. This is a consequence of the process of humanization of the sacred which already started at the end of the thirteenth century and continued during the fourteenth.

The Child expresses himself in the kiss on the mouth exchanged between Mother and Son.

In this perspective precisely, there is an intensity of feeling which is an aspect revealed during the restoration! It became a particular interest when restorer Roxi Giardina identified a series of taps on the entire surface of the Virgin's face, which does not exist in other parts of the pictorial surface of the painting. A logical explanation of these signs could be that of repeated gestures of veneration, such as the custom of bringing a series of objects out of devotion to the face of the Madonna, perhaps the beads of a rosary or medals. A similar custom is found in the tombs of the most important saints, who were touched by pilgrims and devotees with bits of cloth, the brandea, and later by other devotional objects, which thus became themselves relics "by contact". The custom extended also to the most revered paintings and statues, continued during the course of the Middle Ages.