Provenance
Possibly by 1810 kept at the collecting point of the Istituto di Belle Arti, Siena,[1] transferred there from one of the suppressed convents or monasteries. Probably acquired c. 1896 in Italy by (Charles Fairfax Murray, London and Florence), for (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold March 1898 to John G. Johnson [1841-1917], Philadelphia; apparently returned to (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 30 September 1898 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[2] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] This is suggested by the wax seal on the reverse of the painting.
[2] The details of ownership by Murray and Agnew's (the painting was Agnew's number 8273) come from the Getty Provenance Index, which indicates the painting was sold to Johnson in March 1898, then to Widener in September of that year. This differs from the Widener collection card (in NGA curatorial files), which documents the 1898 purchase as being in March 1898.
Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Bernardino of Siena
c. 1480/1485
Accession Number
1942.9.3
Medium
tempera on panel
Dimensions
overall: 70.3 × 50 cm (27 11/16 × 19 11/16 in.) | framed: 88.9 × 68.58 × 11.43 cm (35 × 27 × 4 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Widener Collection
Tags
Painting Renaissance (1400–1599) Tempera Panel Painting Italian
Background & Context
Background Story
This devotional panel of the Madonna and Child flanked by Saint Jerome and Saint Bernardino of Siena is a characteristic work of the Sienese Renaissance. Saint Bernardino, the great preacher who had been canonized in 1450, was Siena's most important local saint, and his inclusion alongside Jerome indicates the panel's Sienese origin and devotional context. The composition is a sacra conversazione — a holy conversation — where the saints occupy the same pictorial space as the Madonna, creating a unified devotional image rather than a narrative scene.
Cultural Impact
Benvenuto di Giovanni worked during a period when Sienese painting was negotiating its relationship with the more dominant Florentine tradition. This panel shows the negotiation clearly: the composition follows Sienese conventions (the elegantly posed Madonna, the decorative textiles, the gold-leaf details) while incorporating Florentine compositional ideas (the unified spatial setting, the coherent perspective). The result is a hybrid that is richer than either tradition alone.
Why It Matters
This sacra conversazione embodies the Sienese Renaissance at its most appealing: locally devout, aesthetically refined, and open to outside influence without surrendering its distinctive character. Saint Bernardino's presence makes it a specifically Sienese declaration of faith.
