Giovanni di Paolo, Madonna and Child with Saints

1454
Tempera on wood, gold ground
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Friedsam Collection, 32.100.76

Mary is dressed as usual in a blue mantle over a red robe. The figure on the far left is probably St. Monica. Her son, Augustine, is next to her. He is identified by the elaborate embroidery on the hem of his cope. His mitre and crozier are the usual attributes of a bishop.

On the right of the Madonna St. John the Baptist is identified by his belted tunic of camel-skin. Traditionally he is also shown with some sort of mantle, as here, although this is not mentioned in the description in Matthew 3:4 and Mark 1:6.

On the far right is St. Nicholas of Tolentino, identified by his black habit and by the sunburst emblem in his left hand, which is the object of the gaze of all the figures except Monica.

Read more about images of the Madonna and Child.
Read more about images of St. Monica.
Read more about images of St. Augustine.
Read more about images of St. John the Baptist.
Read more about images of St. Nicholas of Tolentino.

Photographed at the Metropolitan by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.