LiVecchi 1

Sara LiVecchi
Lisa Tom
ARH 252
2/24/2016
Descriptive Writing: Virgin and Child Enthroned and Donor, Angels
Virgin and Child Enthroned and Donor, Angels was composed by Pietro Lorenzetti of
Siena in 1319. This religious altarpieceas the name statesdepicts the iconography of the
Virgin Mary and her son. From the depiction of the donor as a monk in the lower left corner, it is
assumed that the work was commissioned as an altarpiece in a church for a convent in Siena.
Now, the piece is located in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
What makes Lorenzettis work different from Duccio and Giottos interpretations of the
iconography, for example, is that his piece is intended for a church; this audience is significantly
smaller than that of a lavish cathedral. The work is about 50 inches tall and 27 inches wide,
which is hardly life-sized, but still substantial. Lorenzetti used tempera and gold on a vertical
grain panel to create this work. His use of Byzantine golden tooling detail as the background for
the piece is intended to represent the light of the heavens descending upon the Virgin and Child
while also assigning strong religious and hierarchical value to the subject matter.
The donor is depicted in the piece in a manner that helps to highlight the function of this
piece as a devotional work. He is a monk on his knees, hands clasped in prayer, facing the Virgin
and Child with a most reverent expression. Posed in worship and significantly smaller in size, the
viewer gets an even greater sensation of idolatry regarding these quintessential figures. Depicting
The Virgin and Christ as the largest, most central beings in this piece served to illustrate their
place as the focus of the work. The lesser figuresthe angels and the monkare smaller and off

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in the corners accordingly. Lorenzetti created a wooden throne with only minor religious-themed
detailing; it is not as lavish as that of Giottos work which features a golden throne with an arch
over her head. This communicates the Virgins importance in a more reserved manner instead of
an ostentatious boasting of her greatness while also making reference to the simple lifestyle of
the monks that commissioned this work.
The means by which Lorenzetti depicts the Virgin and Child has a combination of
overlapping Byzantine and naturalistic styles. The piece is fairly flat without much attention to
the anatomical correctness of the Virgins dimensions. For example, her head and hands are too
large for her frame, her nose too long, and her eyes too wide. She sits on a wooden throne in the
center of the altarpiece, but her torso is leaning to the left while her head leans in to the right. Her
gaze trails out to the right of the piece. Christ sits on her left leg with adult-like facial features.
He faces his mother with his right hand poised as if blessing a sinner. Both figures are depicted
with circular gold tooling marks about their heads to represent halos and present them as
heavenly beings. If inspected closely, there are noticeable patterns within the circles for the two.
Marys halo contains outward facing hearts as a physical representation of her outpouring of love
for her son. Jesus halo overlaps the thrown they are seated in; this emphasizes their holiness as
something greater than the physical world.
This work does not keep as much to the naturalistic style that was becoming prominent
during this time in order to maintain the focus of the subject matter. However, there are some
semblances of naturalism to be found, such as the deep folds of Marys draperyespecially
about her kneesto show that she is seated and is a figure with dimension instead of just an
image on a page. Her cloak is patterned with tiny leaves that help her figure to stand out from
the background of the piece. The eye is drawn both to her figure and the figure of Christ as he is

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shown in a bright red garment as well. Above the Virgins head is a triple archway that separates
her and Christ from two angels on either side of the piece; the arch represents the separation
between earth and the heavens. These angels are dressed in white robes with gold detailing, arms
folded and looking down at the two as if to watch over them. Their halos are crafted with the
same technique as Mary and Christs but inside their circles are leafy designs like that of Marys
cloak. Their brilliant red wings are indicative of typical bright Byzantine colors.
Lorenzettis Virgin and Child Enthroned and Donor, Angels clearly depicts the
iconography of the Virgin and Child via usage of hierarchy of scale; the two most prominent
figures are the largest and most central in the work. Fragments of Lorenzettis signature can be
found at the bottom of the work in line with the monks feet, but he himself is not otherwise
depicted as it was a privately commissioned work for a Christian monastery. His means for
crafting this piece was unique in that it was a more personal piece which still highlighted the
significant religious event that was revered by the majority of Italians in this century.