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The ''Cambrai Madonna'' (or ''Notre-Dame de Grace'') is a small c 1340 Italo-Byzantine, possibly Sienese,〔Upton (1989), 52〕 replica of an Eleusa (''Virgin of Tenderness'') icon. The work on which it is based is believed to have originated in Tuscany c. 1300, and influenced a wide number of paintings from the following century as well as Florentine sculptures from the 1440–1450s.〔Parshall (207-8), 19〕 This version was in turn widely copied across Italy and northern Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries; Filippo Lippi's 1447 ''The Madonna and Child Enthroned'' is a well known example. When in 1450 the painting was brought to Cambrai, then part of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy and now in France, it was believed an original by Saint Luke, patron saint of artists, for which Mary herself had sat as model. Thus it was treated as a relic; God bestowing miracles on those that travelled to view it.〔Ainsworth (2009), 104〕〔Evans, p. 582〕 The work is significant beyond its aesthetic value: it serves as a bridge between the Byzantine icon tradition and the Italian Quattrocento, and inspired the work of 15th-century Netherlandish artists. It reached the north soon after the Ottoman Turks sacked Constantinople and became a propagandist tool in stirring papalistic emotions to raise funds to lead a counterattack. Part of this process involved the commissioning of works by major northern artists of the 15th century, thus it is of interest in both the political and art historical senses.〔Ainsworth (1998), 259〕 ==Description== The painting is in tempera on a cedar panel, now backed by a modern board. It measures 35.5 x 26.5 cm, and is in generally good condition, with some local retouching. The initials "MR, DI, IHS, XRS" stand for the Latin ''Mater Dei, Jesu Christus'', "Mother of God, Jesus Christ".〔Evans, pp. 582〕 It displays the gilded, decorated background typical of Byzantine devotional paintings, while Mary is dressed in a blue robe with gold lined edging. Christ, also typically of such Madonna and child works, possesses the body of an adult male rather that of an infant. He is burly, and far too large for a new born child.〔Parshall (2007-8), 18〕 Mary is described by scholars as an Eleusa icon because of the tender manner in which the child is nestled against her cheek, setting the image as an intimate portrayal of the bond between mother and child. Her head is tilted towards her son and embraces his forehead and cheek almost as if in a kiss, while her arms warmly cradle him. He has one leg bent and another extended towards her, while his right arm is held upright and intimately holds her chin from below. This closeness and engagement of mother and child is a departure from Byzantine tradition, where they were often shown almost at arms length, and was in tune with the ideals of the Italian Quattrocento.〔 The Italian origin of the work is shown in "the more subtle modeling of the faces, the volumetric aspect of the draperies with soft folds, the Latin inscriptions", and the style of the "elaborate punchwork of the haloes".〔Evans, p. 584〕 A number of oddities in the different versions indicate that the many Italian versions came from a single source; primarily the closeness of the two figures' faces, their seeming embrace, as well as the unusual concentration of the child's facial features in a small portion of his head, which gives him an unusually long forehead.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cambrai Madonna」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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