Lorenzo Monaco and the Madonna Enthroned

Who was Lorenzo Monaco?

Lorenzo Monaco (Lawrence the Monk) will forever be remembered as a Christian painter.

The Madonna Enthroned

One of his painting, The Madonna Enthroned (from a ten-part altarpiece) has been in the Toledo Museum of Arts (in Ohio, USA). Altarpieces depicted holy figures or scenes from the Bible that inspired and focused on Christian devotion. The painting is believed to have been painted by Lorenzo Monaco during the last decade of the 14^th Century (1390 - 1400) when he was possibly between the age range of 15-25.

The Madonna Enthroned artifact is a medieval era image which was made with expensive materials like gold leaf and blue pigment from powdered lapis lazuli (a semiprecious stone). The artifact falling in the genre of religious art also had tempera and gold on wood panel. Made with expensive materials like gold leaf and deep blue pigment from powdered lapis lazuli. Also made with expensive materials like gold leaf and deep blue pigment from powdered lapis lazuli, this deluxe image of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child was originally the center panel of a large polyptych (multi-paneled altarpiece). This is a sign that the artifact was popular with the elites.

More so, the Virgin, as Queen of Heaven, sits on a marble throne decorated with mosaic inlay and Gothic pinnacles (a symbol of the Church itself), holding the infant Jesus on her lap. The child grasps a bird which symbolizes the Resurrection. In the other hand the baby makes a sign of blessing with the other which shows Leonardo was highly inspired by the Catholic Christian traditions that dominated this era in present day Italy. The tilt of the Virgin's head suggests humility and being open and the tender relationship between the mother and son. Although some of the gold leaf background has worn away, revealing its base of red clay (bole), the virtuoso tooling of the thin sheets of gold is still evident in the intricate rose-wreath design of the Virgin's halo. of which are now preserved in the Laurentian Library in Florence. A characteristic flowing leaf pattern, which can be easily recognized, showed itself in the decorative details of works done in this convent. The angular and pointed forms which characterize the Diurne Dominicale, which he in part illuminated in the year I409, have a direct response in the painting that he produced about the same period.

The image of the Virgin Mary and infant Christ formed the center of a large altarpiece. It was probably painted for a chapel altar in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence. Christian traditions had a huge impact on Lorenzo Monaco’s life. This can be largely seen in similar images attributed to him like the St Catherine of Alexandria, The Coronation of the Virgin and St Caius which all show images of largely Christian-Roman Catholicism influences.

Moreover The Madonna Enthroned confirms that Lorenzo was a highly sensitive and superb colorist in Florence before Fra Angelico. This painting like others he made make him an established and exquisite draftsperson of the Medieval Era. For instance his style of painting only after gilding, the linearity characteristic of his work and also the mastery of sharper contrast between highlight and shadow shows his skill of paying attention to detail with master skills.

His early works like The Madonna Enthroned were strongly influenced by Agnolo Gaddi, his teacher. This can be seen in the drapery rhythms and landscape motives that persist even in Lorenzo’s later works. The Madonna Enthroned and Lorenzo’s other works from I387-I388, convey a close relationship to Agnolo Gaddi’s style. The Madonna Enthroned painting is probably one of his earlier artifacts since he moved into the Camaldolese monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in I39I where he was educated in the art of miniature painting. Miniature painting required great preciseness of proficiency and he used this style in altarpieces like that of The Madonna Enthroned which had an unquestionable sense of greatness.

More so, the Madonna Enthroned art was also inspired by the Gothic tradition (characterized by rich color, lyrical lines, and graceful, often elongated figures) of Siena and Florence. Lorenzo continued the art to the 15^th century making it also popular among his followers like Fra Angelico. For example the elongated figures are animated by the decorative sway of drapery common to the Gothic style. They were also sorted and articulated in rigidly horizontal compositions with receding architectural or landscape backgrounds. The Madonna Enthroned also convey his colors as bright and decorative in the Gothic style of Lorenzo Monaco. The sudden burst of linearity in the reduced poses and sweeping curves of drapery, betraying the arrival on the scene of a wholly new factor, the fantastic and gorgeous style that is known to scholars as the International Gothic, because it flourished over all of northern Europe, from London to Prague.

Also the artifact shows that Christian traditions had strongly inspired Lorenzo in his works. Tradition, as an objective expression of his relation to religion, was sacred to him. In 1392 Lorenzo Monaco became a sub-deacon in the Florentine monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, and almost his entire life was spent in Florence, where he died in I425. During his times a plague destroyed entire families and left trials and tribulations which resulted in the fear of God and guilt by his contemporaries. The religious orders were strict and the Observant movement arose being proponents of closer attachment to the Christian doctrine and the clerical authority. This made the Madonna Enthroned to be in perfect accord with the ideological and social climate of Florence during Lorenzo’s days. A deeply religious spirit was dominating the period of Lorenzo inspiring the Christian art like the Madonna Enthroned. Also the inscription at the base of the mostly original frame was from a Latin hymn“O Heaven’s glorious mistress, enthroned above the starry sky, who provides to thy own Creator…” This show how Christianity dominated the days of Lorenzo Monaco.

In addition to the above the Madonna Enthroned inspired Lorenzo’s contemporaries through its shiny colors. The shiny altarpieces were popular among the worshipful who authorized and prayed before glistering Gothic altarpieces by Lorenzo and his competitors. Being talented many of his generation were also sensitive to the formal and coloristic possibilities of the style the Gothic linear-style of Lorenzo during his times. He also payed attention to the Giottesque tradition of splendour and plasticity making alter pieces like the Madonna Enthroned high-class emotional art. It has been argued that Lorenzo was not innovator, nor did he possess the creative genius or imaginative power of a Masaccio but Lorenzo has been singled out as sensitive and a highly accomplished craftsman with a keen sense of color and elegance of design as present in the Madonna Enthroned.

Moreover, the Madonna Enthroned like other works of Lorenzo have been argued to be musical. It has been argued that Lorenzo’s ability to tease out an emotive response through an exaggeration of form that borders on the abstract is almost musical. This was mostly appropriate for an artist who spent decades thinking about the relationship of image to music. His lyrical and poetic style has been argued to have much in common with that of painters like Simone Martini.

In addition to the above Lorenzo has been outstanding in having brought to a peak of refinement the traditional character of late trecento painting and also introduced an element of poetry and fantasy. Pudelko expressed it well that Lorenzo “belonged to that revolutionizing new movement, the style of which, though seemingly overcome by Masaccio, has always secretly continued its existence in Tuscan painting” Therefore Lorenzo was a hero of his times for making late trecento religious paintings clear and attention-getting.

In conclusion the Madonna Enthroned (from a ten-part altarpiece) which has been in the Toledo Museum of Art is one of the best artifacts ever crafted by the hand of man. Lorenzo Monaco will forever be remembered for painting artifacts like the Madonna Enthroned (from a ten-part altarpiece). This post analyzed the Madonna Enthroned in therms of its composition, elements and techniques used and how various elements have been implemented. The importance and significance of various elements have also been discussed. It has been identified that Lorenzo Monaco was highly emotional in his painting of the Madonna Enthroned and his Christian background greatly influenced his artistic work on the artifact. His influences like his teacher Agnolo Gaddi and Gothic style are also notable in influencing his artistic work on the Madonna Enthroned (from a ten-part altarpiece).

Lorenzo Monaco and the Madonna Enthroned

Further Readings