The Virgin and Child with Saints Francis and Sebastian

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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This painting, showing the Virgin and Child enthroned between Saints Francis and Sebastian, was the central panel of an altarpiece made for a family chapel in the Franciscan church at Fabriano, in the Italian Marches. At Francis’s foot, a stout little figure in widow’s dress is being presented to the Virgin Mary: she is Oradea Becchetti, who founded the chapel. Images of the Virgin and saints were popular on altarpieces, as medieval Christians believed that they could intercede with God on behalf of sinful humanity at the Last Judgement. Oradea was clearly proud of her commission: the inscription along the front states that she paid for the altar and the painting ‘at no small expense of her own money’. The saints, who would have been chosen by Oradea and her spiritual advisers, reflect her and their interests.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

The Virgin and Child with Saints Francis and Sebastian

Date

1491

Medium

Egg and oil on poplar

Measurements

H 175.3 x W 151.1 cm

Accession number

NG807

Acquisition method

Presented by Elizabeth Mary, widow of the second Marquess of Westminster, 1870

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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