Saint Luke Painting the Virgin
Artist
Luca Giordano
(Italian, 1634 - 1705)
Dateca. 1650
Object number57.0030
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions112 1/2 × 73 1/2 in. (285.8 × 186.7 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.
Collections
On View
Not on viewDescriptionThis painting shows Saint Luke painting the Virgin and Child. Luke wrote one of the four Gospels and is the patron saint of painters, since some believe he painted icons of the Virgin. Giordano plays on his birth name Luca (Luke in Italian) and profession in this work, and gave his own likeness to this depiction of Luke painting an image of Mary on a canvas supported by angels. As the Virgin poses for her portrait, winged children act as studio assistants by grinding pigments. More angels support the hovering Virgin, imbuing the otherwise everyday scene with an air of miraculous apparition.
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