01 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation of the bible, With Footnotes - 175

Attributed to Luis de Morales (Badajoz circa 1509-1586)

Christ as the Man of Sorrows 

Oil on panel

35.9 x 30.1cm (14 1/8 x 11 7/8in)

Private collection

Man of Sorrows is paramount among the prefigurations of the Messiah identified by Christians in the passages of Isaiah 53 in the Hebrew Bible. It is also an iconic devotional image that shows Christ, usually naked above the waist, with the wounds of his Passion prominently displayed on his hands and side, often crowned with the Crown of Thorns and sometimes attended by angels. It developed in Europe from the 13th century, and was especially popular in Northern Europe.

The image continued to spread and develop iconographical complexity until well after the Renaissance, but the Man of Sorrows in its many artistic forms is the most precise visual expression of the piety of the later Middle Ages, which took its character from mystical contemplation rather than from theological speculation". Together with the Pietà, it was the most popular of the andachtsbilder-type images of the period - devotional images detached from the narrative of Christ's Passion, intended for meditation. More on the Man of Sorrows

Luis de Morales (1512 – 9 May 1586) was a Spanish painter born in Badajoz, Extremadura. Known as "El Divino", most of his work was of religious subjects, including many representations of the Madonna and Child and the Passion.

Influenced, especially in his early work, by Raphael Sanzio and the Lombard school (fr) school of Leonardo, he was called by his contemporaries "The Divine Morales", because of his skill and the shocking realism of his paintings, and because of the spirituality transmitted by all his work.

His work has been divided by critics into two periods, an early stage under the influence of Florentine artists such as Michelangelo and a more intense, more anatomically correct later period similar to German and Flemish Renaissance painters. More on Luis de Morales

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, And visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

02 Paintings, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretations of the Bible! by The Old Masters, With Footnotes # 62

Pellegrino di Mariano, (Siena active circa 1442–1492)

Madonna and Child with Saints 

Tempera on panel, gold ground

61 x 41.8 cm, integral frame 

Private collection

In the present painting, the Madonna and Child are flanked by six figures that seem to form a celestial court round them. The two patron saints of Siena are represented: Saint Catherine and Saint Bernardino, while on the right are Saint Dorothea and Saint Jerome. Representations of Saint Dorothea are rare in Sienese Quattrocento art and her presence in this painting would have had a special meaning. More on the present painting

The Madonna and Child or The Virgin and Child is often the name of a work of art which shows the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. The word Madonna means "My Lady" in Italian. Artworks of the Christ Child and his mother Mary are part of the Roman Catholic tradition in many parts of the world. More on The Madonna and Child

Pellegrino di Mariano, (Siena active circa 1442–1492)

Madonna and Child with Saints 

Detail of Saint Catherine

Saint Catherine of Alexandria is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of fourteen, and converted hundreds of people to Christianity. More on Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Pellegrino di Mariano, (Siena active circa 1442–1492)

Madonna and Child with Saints 

Detail of Bernardino of Siena

Bernardino of Siena, (8 September 1380 – 20 May 1444) was an Italian priest and Franciscan missionary. He was a systematizer of Scholastic economics. His popular preaching made him famous during his own lifetime, although it was frequently directed against sorcery, gambling, infanticide, witchcraft, sodomy, Jews, and usury. More on Bernardino

Pellegrino di Mariano, (Siena active circa 1442–1492)

Madonna and Child with Saints 

Detail of Dorothea of Caesarea

Dorothea of Caesarea  (died ca. 311) is a 4th-century virgin martyr who was executed at Caesarea Mazaca. Evidence for her actual historical existence or acta is very sparse. She is called a martyr of the Diocletianic Persecution, although her death occurred after the resignation of Diocletian himself. More on Dorothea of Caesarea

Pellegrino di Mariano, (Siena active circa 1442–1492)

Madonna and Child with Saints 

Detail of Jerome

Jerome (c.  347 – 30 September 420) was a priest, confessor, theologian and historian. He is best known for his translation of most of the Bible into Latin, and his commentaries on the Gospels. His list of writings is extensive. More on Jerome

Pellegrino di Mariano worked for Pope Pius II Piccolomini (1405-1464), as well as important institutions in Siena. He probably received formative training with Giovanni di Paolo (1398–1482) and subsequently he entered the circle of Sano di Pietro (1405–1481), the most popular artist in Sienat. Usually the iconography of his paintings was personalised through the selection of the saints by the patron and the works were conserved in private houses or in the cells of members of religious orders. 

He frequently turned to traditional images as model, but he created his own compositional solutions, which while reusing the same primary cartoon, show significant variations in many examples. More on Pellegrino di Mariano

Master of the Johnson Tabernacle, Florence active in the first half of the 15th C.

Christ as Man of Sorrows with Symbols of the Passion

Tempera and gold on panel

31 x 22.5 cm

Private collection

At the centre of the painting Christ is represented as the Man of Sorrows as he emerges from the marble sarcophagus to reveal the marks of the Crucifixion. In the lower part of the composition, the Virgin, Mary Magdalene and Saint John the Evangelist are shown mourning him.

Master of the Johnson Tabernacle, Florence active in the first half of the 15th C.

Christ as Man of Sorrows with Symbols of the Passion

Upper section

From the upper left down, the mocking of Christ by the soldiers, the column of the Flagellation, the denial of Peter, the spear of Longinus, the cut ear of Malco and, on the extreme left, the ladder used for the Crucifixion and Deposition. Represented respectively on the right are the kiss of Judas, the torch, which alludes to the Capture, the spear with the sponge soaked in vinegar, the thirty gold coins of Judas, an unidentified male figure and the washed hands of Pilate. Seen on the cross are hammers, whips, the crown of thorns as well as the cockerel that alludes to the denial of Peter. More on this painting

This artist whose identity remains unknown is conventionally referred to as the ‘Master of the Johnson Tabernacle’, named after a tabernacle conserved in the Philadelphia Museum of Art

He was active in Florence in the mid-15th Century. More on Master of the Johnson Tabernacle

Acknowledgement: Dorotheum, and others

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others

We do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.