Course Readings: Web Gallery

Madonna and Child with Saints, Brera Altarpiece, Milan, Italy (ca. 1472) by Piero della Francesca

In this painting, four angels stand behind Mary and Christ. The three gentlemen to the right are Saint Francis (revealing the stigmata through a hole in his cloak), Saint Peter Martyr of Verona (a Dominican who made it his life's work to attack heresy, he bears his death wound atop his crown), and Saint John the Evangelist (holding a book). On the left are Saint John the Baptist, Saint Bernardino (a great preacher, he wears his Franciscan habit), and Saint Jerome (still holding the rock with which he used to beat himself in the desert). And kneeling on the right, in shiny armor, Frederico da Montefeltro adores the Christ child.

References to the sea permeate this painting. Two of the angels wear pearl necklaces (pearls were Battista Sforza's favorite gem), a giant shell hangs in the apse, and Christ wears a coral necklace. Moreover, Saint John the Evangelist was a fisherman.