The ''Crevole Madonna'' is a tempera and gold on wood panel painting by the Tuscan painter

Duccio di Buoninsegna Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ), commonly known as just Duccio, was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religi ...

, created ''c.'' 1283–1284. It was originally in the Pieve di Santa Cecilia in Crevole and now its held in the Museo dell'Opera metropolitana del Duomo in

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

. It was one of the artist's first works. Alessandro Bagnoli, Roberto Bartalini, Luciano Bellosi,

Michel Laclotte Michel Laclotte (Saint Malo, France, 27 October 1929 – Montauban, 10 August 2021) was a French art historian and museum director, specialising in 14th and 15th century Italian and French painting. Early life and education Laclotte's father, ...

, ''Duccio'', Silvana Editore, Milano 2003.

History

Based on his investigation, Vittorio Lusini believes that the panel was probably made for the Church of Santi Pietro e Paolo of Montepescini and then moved to the Augustinian hermitage of Montespecchio. With the suppression of the hermitage and the transfer of the monks in the 17th century, the panel was moved to the parish Church of Santa Cecilia in Crevole, which also housed the monks of Montespecchio. In recent times it was transferred to the Museo dell'Opera metropolitana del Duomo of the

Siena Cathedral Siena Cathedral () is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. Since the early 13th-century the Siena Cathedral has been an important pa ...

where it is located today. It was restored in 1929–1930. The state of conservation is more than satisfactory. The work is not signed by the artist, nor are there written documents that help in the attribution. However, experts attribute it, without conflicting opinions, to the young

Duccio Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ), commonly known as just Duccio, was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religi ...

. As for the elements that led to its dating, the table does not contain any of the Gothic novelties found in the ''

Rucellai Madonna The ''Rucellai Madonna'' is a panel painting representing the Virgin and Child enthroned with Angels by the Sienese painter Duccio di Buoninsegna. The original contract for the work is dated 1285; the painting was probably delivered in 1286. The p ...

'' (1285), but the face of the Madonna and Child are already characterized by a figurative sweetness and refinement that are still absent in Duccio's first works, namely the ''

Gualino Madonna The ''Gualino Madonna'' is a painting attributed to the precursor of the italian primitives artist Cimabue, after having been attributed for some time to one of his fellow contemporaries Duccio di Buoninsegna. It is housed in the Galleria Sabauda ...

'' (1280–1283). The most correct dating therefore seems to be around 1283–1284.

Description and style

The table depicts the Madonna with her head reclined in three quarters and a Child who stretches his right arm to tenderly touch his mother's veil. Two small angels appear in the upper corners of the table. The setting is that of the Madonna Odigitria of the Byzantine tradition, with the variant of the tender gesture of the son caressing his mother, whose sad expression is due to the premonition of the destiny of sacrifice and death of Jesus, symbolized by the apparition of angels. The panel is very similar, in general setting, to the '' Madonna di Castelfiorentino'' exhibited in the Museum of Santa Verdiana in

Castelfiorentino Castelfiorentino is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, central-northern Italy, located between Florence (distance 30 km), Pisa (45 km) and Siena (55 km). The population numbers approxi ...

(

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

) and attributed to

Cimabue Giovanni Cimabue ( , ; – 1302), Translated with an introduction and notes by J.C. and P Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World's Classics), 1991, pp. 7–14. . also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian p ...

. This similarity supports the theory, also formulated on the basis of other much more solid evidence, that the young Duccio of these years was a pupil of the older Cimabue. Beyond this similarity, the faces of the Madonna and Child are much more delicate and humanized in Duccio's table. Maria's face is more elongated and her eyes are closer to each other, but it is also the greater pictorial delicacy that makes the difference (compare the dimples above the mouth and the backs of the two noses). The face of Jesus is also softer and less angular, with a characteristic potato chip nose. The veiled transparency of his robe and the intimate gesture with his right arm towards his mother, very different from the rude fussing of Cimabue's, contribute to making his figure more delicate. These perceptible differences show the progressive detachment of Duccio's style from that of Cimabue, a detachment that appeared almost imperceptible in the previous ''

'' (1280–1283) of a decidedly Cimabuesque influence A further detachment from the master Cimabue will take place with the subsequent ''

'' (1285) where Duccio will introduce Gothic elements that will never characterize Cimabue's work.

References

{{Duccio Paintings by Duccio Paintings in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Siena) category:Paintings of the Madonna and Child category:1280s paintings