Saint Bernard's Vision of the Virgin

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Notes

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This panel shows a twelfth-century monk, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, having a vision of the Virgin Mary. It is shaped like an ‘overdoor’ – a picture designed to hang above a doorway – and was probably made to decorate the Palazzo Vecchio (the town hall) in Florence; Saint Bernard was patron saint of the building.

Bernard is depicted wearing a simple hooded cloak, seated in a rocky wooded setting. He has retreated there to read, write and immerse himself in spiritual contemplation; craggy rocks serve as a seat and desk. The paint surface is very worn but very faint traces of a pen in his right hand are still visible and his ink stand sits on top of his writing box.

Lippi’s son Filippino made a painting of this subject in which the Virgin is clearly dictating to the saint – our picture probably tells the same story.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Saint Bernard's Vision of the Virgin

Date

1447

Medium

Egg tempera on wood

Measurements

H 94.3 x W 106 cm

Accession number

NG248

Acquisition method

Bought, 1854

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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