Salting Madonna (Antonello da Messina)
Encyclopedia
The Madonna with Child is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina
Antonello da Messina
Antonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio was an Italian painter from Messina, Sicily, active during the Italian Renaissance...

. It is housed in the National Gallery, London
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...

. The name Salting derives from the collector who donated it to the gallery in 1910.

The Salting Madonna shows a complex series of cultural references, which have led in past time scholars to classify it variously as a Flemish, Spanish or even Russian work. It is in fact one of Antonello's earlier works, dating most likely from the 1460s, when the artist was in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

. It portrays the Madonna adorned with a series of well-crafted and rendered details, such as the crown and the Venetian-style garments.

The abstract beauty of the Madonna's face derives from the style of contemporary Provençal
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

 artists, especially Enguerrand Quarton
Enguerrand Quarton
Enguerrand Quarton was a French painter and manuscript illuminator whose few surviving works are among the first masterpieces of a distinctively French style, very different from either Italian or Early Netherlandish painting...

.

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