Fra Angelico, Madonna and Child between Sts Dominic and Catherine of Alexandria
Photogallery
Fra Angelico, Madonna and Child between Sts Dominic and Catherine of Alexandria
Historical information on the origin and commissioning of this panel is lacking. It is almost unanimously atttributed to Fra Angelico, who probably painted it around 1435. The painting which, due to its reduced dimensions can almost certainly be said to have been intended for private worship, shows the Virgin playing with the Child Jesus, a very common iconography in Tuscany at the end of the 13th century. She is holding a rose, the symbol of wisdom. Kneeling in the foreground are St Dominic, founder of the Order to which Angelico belonged, and St Catherine.