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Lot Essay
Ansano di Pietro di Mencio, known as Sano di Pietro, was the most consistently productive Sienese master of the mid-fifteenth century. While less is known about his early years, his work is well documented from 1444 onward. He received numerous commissions in and around Siena, and his compositions reveal the influence of Sienese contemporaries and predecessors, notably Sassetta and Domenico di Bartolo.
In this panel, the Virgin’s delicately drawn face and almond-shaped eyes closely echo those in the artist's Virgin and Child with Angels (Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, inv. no. 224) as well as his polyptych in the same museum (inv. no. 231). The meticulous design of the Christ Child’s garment is similar to that worn by the infant Christ in Sano’s Virgin and Child with Saint Jerome, Saint Bernardino, and Four Angels at the Art Institute of Chicago (inv. no. 1933.1027). The present work also includes Saint Jerome, identified by his rosary and the stone with which he beats his breast, while above, the depiction of Christ in the Sepulcher subtly foreshadows the Child's Passion.
Datable to around 1460—close to Sano's signed polyptych for San Giorgio in Montemerano (1458) and his 1463 altarpiece in Pienza Cathedral—this panel was painted at a time when the artist led a highly active and stylistically cohesive workshop. While his vast output has prompted occasional distinctions between the master’s hand and those of his assistants, the assured quality and refinement in this painting are characteristic of Sano’s mature oeuvre.
In this panel, the Virgin’s delicately drawn face and almond-shaped eyes closely echo those in the artist's Virgin and Child with Angels (Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, inv. no. 224) as well as his polyptych in the same museum (inv. no. 231). The meticulous design of the Christ Child’s garment is similar to that worn by the infant Christ in Sano’s Virgin and Child with Saint Jerome, Saint Bernardino, and Four Angels at the Art Institute of Chicago (inv. no. 1933.1027). The present work also includes Saint Jerome, identified by his rosary and the stone with which he beats his breast, while above, the depiction of Christ in the Sepulcher subtly foreshadows the Child's Passion.
Datable to around 1460—close to Sano's signed polyptych for San Giorgio in Montemerano (1458) and his 1463 altarpiece in Pienza Cathedral—this panel was painted at a time when the artist led a highly active and stylistically cohesive workshop. While his vast output has prompted occasional distinctions between the master’s hand and those of his assistants, the assured quality and refinement in this painting are characteristic of Sano’s mature oeuvre.