In art, a (; plural: ''sacre conversazioni''), meaning "holy (or sacred) conversation", is a genre developed in

Italian Renaissance painting Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political stat ...

, with a depiction of the

Virgin and Child In Christian art, a Madonna () is a religious depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a singular form or sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word ...

(the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

with the

infant Jesus The Christ Child—also known as Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, Child Jesus, Divine Child, Divine Infant and the Holy Child—refers to Jesus Christ during his early years. The term refers to a period of Jesus' life, described in the canonical Gospe ...

) amidst a group of

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

s in a relatively informal grouping, as opposed to the more rigid and hierarchical compositions of earlier periods.

Donor portrait A donor portrait or votive portrait is a portrait in a larger painting or other work showing the person who commissioned and paid for the image, or a member of his, or (much more rarely) her, family. ''Donor portrait'' usually refers to the portr ...

s may also be included, generally kneeling, often their patron saint is presenting them to the Virgin, and angels are frequently in attendance. Giovanni Bellini Sacra Conversatione

The term is often used as a title for paintings to avoid listing all the individual figures, although the trend in museums and academic art history is now to give the full list. The name, which only appears as a title retrospectively in the 18th century, has been explained with reference to "their rapt stillness of mood, in which the Saints, scarcely looking at one another, seem to communicate at a spiritual rather than a material level". At least that is the case in earlier examples; later ones, from the 16th century onwards, often give the impression of more conventional conversations between the figures, who lean towards one another and interact more. In Italian the term is perhaps used more often and more widely than is usually the case in English, for example covering ''in aria'' compositions in the tradition of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

's ''

Sistine Madonna The ''Sistine Madonna'', also called the ''Madonna di San Sisto'', is an oil painting by the Italian artist Raphael. The painting was commissioned in 1512 by Pope Julius II for the church of San Sisto, Piacenza, and probably executed ''c.'' 15 ...

'' where the Virgin and Child hover in the air well above the saints.

Development

The ''sacra conversazione'' developed as artists replaced earlier hieratic and compartmented

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Some definitions restrict "polyptych" to works with more than three sections: a diptych is ...

formats for altarpieces with compositions in which figures interacted within a unified

perspectival Perspectivism (also called perspectivalism) is the epistemological principle that perception of and knowledge of something are always bound to the interpretive perspectives of those observing it. While perspectivism regard all perspectives and ...

space. While traditional altarpieces generally retained a vertical format, the ''sacra conversazione'' had all the principal figures on a single level, or nearly so. They therefore tended to move towards a horizontal format, as there was little but angels and architecture to put at the top of a vertical one, unless the divine figures were raised on a very high throne, as in the unusual composition of the '' Castelfranco Madonna'' by

Giorgione Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (; 1470s – 17 September 1510), known as Giorgione, was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quality of his work, ...

(c. 1503). Here as in many works, the Virgin and Child are seated on a throne, but the saints stand, so in more typical examples with the throne only slightly raised on a

dais A dais or daïs ( or , American English also but sometimes considered nonstandard)dais
in the Random House Dictionary< ...

, the adult heads are at about the same level. The ''sacra conversazione'' was one of the types of image that led to the horizontal format becoming common in panel paintings; before the Renaissance it was rare in altar pieces (while the format was certainly common in

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

). Often such works, especially if in a horizontal format and at half-length or with seated figures, were painted for the homes of wealthy faithful (and often collectors), whether for a private chapel or to be hung in other rooms, treated not unlike portraits or secular scenes. Early examples are the ''Annalena Altarpiece'' (c. 1438–40), '' San Marco Altarpiece'' (c. 1438–43) and '' Fiesole Altarpiece'' by

Fra Angelico Fra Angelico, O.P. (; ; born Guido di Pietro; 18 February 1455) was a Dominican friar and Italian Renaissance painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Giorgio Vasari in his ''Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent" ...

and the '' Barbadori Altarpiece'' by

Filippo Lippi Filippo Lippi ( – 8 October 1469), also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Quattrocento (fifteenth century) and a Carmelite priest. He was an early Renaissance master of a painting workshop, who taught many paint ...

(1437,

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

). Having the Virgin the same size as the other figures is often regarded as essential to the type, so disqualifying most earlier works, where the Virgin is shown much larger. Among other artists to depict such a scene are

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca ( , ; ; ; – 12 October 1492) was an Italian Renaissance painter, Italian painter, mathematician and List of geometers, geometer of the Early Renaissance, nowadays chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting is charact ...

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana (Veronese), The Wedding ...

, and

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, ; ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance painter, a student of Ancient Rome, Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with Perspective (graphical), pe ...

. Some scholars have suggested that the '' Maestà'' painted by

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 ...

in 1308–11 for Siena Cathedral can be regarded as the ''"prima conversazione sacra italiana"''. The early examples such as the Bellini illustrated rarely show actual "conversation" or much interaction, though this may be seen from the 16th century on, as in the '' Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria'' by

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

. In the first examples the setting is normally architectural, loosely representing heaven, but also, until Titian's '' Pesaro Altarpiece'' (begun 1519), continuing the architecture of the architectural frame and therefore that of the original church setting for which it was painted. This was a radical rethink of the type, apparently set outside some temple portico with large soaring columns, viewed obliquely. The Virgin and Child are no longer at the centre of the composition, but to the right of the picture space. As in earlier altarpieces, the choice of saints is largely dictated by the patron saints of the donor and their family, and those of the church, city, diocese or

religious order A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their Organizational founder, ...

concerned. The mixture of figures from different periods that is normal in the type makes it clear that no historical incident is being depicted, and whatever the setting, the space should be understood as mystical rather than any actual place.

Landscape settings

The Virgin and Child with Saints and a Donor by Palma Vecchio

Also in the 1510s, Titian and other Venetians had been developing the mostly northern tradition of outside settings in a garden or, especially later, an open landscape. The height of

's '' Castelfranco Madonna'' of about 1503 had allowed a landscape to show above the lower zone with the saints. Palma Vecchio became a specialist in strongly horizontal ''sacre conversazioni'', with the figures mostly seated or kneeling in a rather tight group, combining informality and a monumental classicism. Such compositions also drew on traditional outdoor groups featuring the

Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on,Ainsworth, 122 but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de La ...

such as the Rest on the Flight into Egypt, the Adoration of the Shepherds and Madonna and Child compositions with angels and other figures. The Virgin placed in an enclosed garden is known as ', and when she is surrounded by female saints it is known as a '. It was a northern speciality, when several of the figures beside the Virgin were sitting, on a bench or bank or on the ground, usually in a garden setting within an enclosure of some sort – originally a metaphor for the Virgin's womb, as the ' began as a representation of the

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

, marking Mary's conception of Christ. These more relaxed groups were continued in Venetian paintings set in open landscape. By the end of the 16th century, "the dominant relationships in an altarpiece such as

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci ( , , ; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother Agostino Carracci, Agostino and cousin Ludovico Carracci, Ludovico (with whom the Ca ...

’s ''Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine and John the Evangelist'' (1593,

Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna The National Art Gallery of Bologna (''Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna'') is a museum in Bologna, Italy. It is located in the former Saint Ignatius Jesuit novitiate of the city's University district, and inside the same building that houses the ...

) were not between the figures within the picture but between them and the spectator." By "

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

painting the Virgin is removed from the earth whenever the context allows", and the scenes are often set among the heavenly clouds. Examples in sculpture are relatively rare, if only because of the number of figures involved. One exception was planned by

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

for the Medici Chapel in

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 ...

, though he left the project before the two Medici patron saints flanking his ''

'' were done; these were made by others following his designs.

''In aria'' compositions

Moretto da Brescia - The Virgin and Child with Saint Bernardino and Other Saints - Google Art Project

Another type of composition developed to suit the needs of vertical format altarpieces with a ''sacra conversatione''. Here the Virgin and Child are placed, usually upon clouds, in mid-air ''(in aria)'' above the saints on the ground. There is typically a landscape background. As well as filling a vertical picture space, this had other advantages, allowing references to the Coronation of the Virgin or the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

. The latter doctrine was still a matter of controversy in the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, and a ''sacra conversatione'' hinting at it may have been preferred by some patrons to a full depiction, which rather required the choice of saints to be restricted to the Apostles, and often had an empty tomb in the centre. Mary is sometimes being crowned by angels, while a full Coronation of the Virgin would be by at least one of the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

. The ''in aria'' compositional type begins before 1500, and becomes increasingly popular during the century following, becoming by its end "the most common type of altarpiece in Italy".

's '' Madonna of Foligno'' of 1511 and his ''

'' of 1512 are leading examples; in the latter the two saints are also kneeling on clouds, although the curtains to the sides and the ledge on which the famous angel-

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...

lean keep the setting tied to the earth. From the 1520s onwards

Moretto da Brescia Alessandro Bonvicino (also Buonvicino) (possibly 22 December 1554), more commonly known as Moretto, or in Italian Il Moretto da Brescia (the Moor of Brescia), was an Italian Renaissance painter from Brescia, where he also mostly worked. His da ...

was "probably the first major Italian artist to employ it repeatedly", painting over twenty.

Etymology

The term does not appear, referring to the subject of a picture, before Italian references at the end of the 18th century; in 1979 the earliest use found was in inventories of the Pucci family from 1763 and 1797. But the term, in its Latin equivalents ''santa conversatio'' and ''pia conversatio'', appears several times in the key texts of the church, from the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

Bible, to the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...

and Catholic liturgy. But in these its meaning is more like "pious conduct" or "holy community". The development of meaning of the Italian ''conversazione'' is also rather complex; as in English, it was a long time before the word came to mean merely people talking together (the 7th meaning listed in the

OED The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

). The earliest English meaning, from 1340, is defined by the OED as "The action of living or having one's being in a place or among persons", very close to the Latin. As the description of a painting, the term remained little used until the mid-19th century, when it was apparently popularized, at least in English, by the ''History of Painting in Italy'' (3 volumes, 1864–1866) by Crowe and Cavalcaselle. They claimed "with remarkable ''élan''" that Palma Vecchio was "the inventor of the large Sacra Conversazione in which full-lengths of saints hold court in the presence of the Virgin ....", suggesting a rather more narrow sense of the term than prevails today. Later art historians have commonly placed the origin of the type in works by

Masaccio Masaccio (, ; ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great List of Italian painters, Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaiss ...

Domenico Veneziano Domenico Veneziano (c. 1410 – May 15, 1461) was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active mostly in Perugia and Tuscany. Little is known of his birth, though he is thought to have been born in Venice, hence his last name. He then move ...

or Fra Angelico, though

Jacob Burckhardt Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (; ; 25 May 1818 – 8 August 1897) was a Swiss historian of art and culture and an influential figure in the historiography of both fields. His best known work is '' The Civilization of the Renaissance in ...

was among those complaining about its use. Nigel Gauk-Roger says that the "first true sacra conversazione was almost certainly" the '' Santa Lucia de' Magnoli Altarpiece'' by Domenico Veneziano from around 1445–47 (main panel now

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of th ...

). All of these have standing saints in an architectural setting. Rona Goffen traces the origin of the type further back, to the

Trecento The Trecento (, also , ; short for , "1300") refers to the 14th century in Italian cultural history. The Trecento is considered to be the beginning of the Italian Renaissance or at least the Proto-Renaissance in art history. The Trecento was als ...

, examining several examples, many from the

Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi (; ) is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor Conventual in Assisi, a town in the Umbria region in central Italy, where Saint Francis was born and died. It is a papal minor basilica ...

, and at half-length. Most accounts of the development restrict themselves to Italy, ignoring northern parallels, despite the '' Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele'' (and two saints) by

Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( ; ; – 9 July 1441) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Nort ...

clearly representing the same type, from as early as 1434–36, as

Otto Pächt Otto Pächt (7 September 1902 – 17 April 1988) was an Austrian art historian and one of the representatives of the second wave of the Vienna School of Art History. He mostly wrote on the medieval and Renaissance art of Europe. An exile from the ...

has pointed out. Giorgione - Pala di Castelfranco.jpg, Castelfranco Madonna,

, c. 1503 Raphael - The Sistine Madonna - Google Art Project.jpg, ''

'',

, 1512–13 Andrea del Sarto - Madonna delle Arpie - Google Art Project.jpg, Andrea del Sarto, '' Madonna of the Harpies'', 1517 Frari (Venice) nave left - Altar of Madona di Ca'Pesaro.jpg, Titian's '' Pesaro Altarpiece'', begun 1519 David Virgin among the Virgins.jpg, ''Virgo inter Virgines'',

Gerard David Gerard David ( – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester ghera ...

, c. 1509, with two

donor portrait A donor portrait or votive portrait is a portrait in a larger painting or other work showing the person who commissioned and paid for the image, or a member of his, or (much more rarely) her, family. ''Donor portrait'' usually refers to the portr ...

s, in this case the artist and his wife.MBA Rouen page
/ref> Gerard David - The Virgin and Child with Saints and Donor - Google Art Project.jpg,

, ''The Virgin and Child with Saints and Donor'', c. 1510, the hortus conclusus type. Triptych of the Virgin and Child with Saints.jpg, Hortus conclusus in ''Triptych of the Virgin and Child with Saints'' depicted by a member of the Cologne school, c. 1520 1627 Rubens Maria mit Kind und Heiligen anagoria.JPG,

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

, 1627

Notes

References

* Goffen, Rona. "Nostra Conversatio in Caelis Est: Observations on the Sacra Conversazione in the Trecento", The Art Bulletin, vol. 61, no. 2, 1979, pp. 198–222.
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* "Grove": Nigel Gauk-Roger. "Sacra conversazione." Grove Art Online.

Oxford Art Online Oxford Art Online is an Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press ...

. Oxford University Press. Weborn 4 Mar. 2017
Subscription required
* Hall, James, ''Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art'', 1996 (2nd edn.), John Murray, * Hope, Charles, "Titian's Life and Times", in Jaffé, David (ed), ''Titian'', The National Gallery Company/Yale, London 2003, * "NG"
Glossary: Sacra Conversazione.

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2017 * Penny, Nicholas, National Gallery Catalogues (new series): ''The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, Volume I'', 2004, National Gallery Publications Ltd, * "RC": Lucy Whitaker, Martin Clayton, ''The Art of Italy in the Royal Collection; Renaissance and Baroque'', Royal Collection Publications, 2007, * Schiller, Gertrud, ''Iconography of Christian Art'', Vol. I, 1971 (English trans from German), Lund Humphries, London, , * Steer, John, ''Venetian painting: A concise history'', 1970, London: Thames and Hudson (World of Art), {{Authority control Iconography of Jesus Virgin Mary in art Italian Renaissance

Development

Landscape settings

''In aria'' compositions

Etymology

See also

Notes

References