3-002-667 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Saints, shortly after 1450. This altarpiece follows the convention of a “sacra conversazione,” or “sacred conversation,” meaning that the holy figures are all placed in a unified space that would allow them to talk to one another. At the center is the Virgin and Child, regally seated on an elaborate throne of pink and grey marble. To the left is Saint Bernardino of Siena (1380-1444), holding the tablet emblazoned with the name of Jesus (“YHS”) which he would display to the Sienese public during his famous sermons, and Saint John the Baptist, wearing his typical animal skin shirt and with a staff in the shape of a cross. To the right is Saint Bernard, holding a book inscribed with one of his prayers, and Saint Apollonia, holding a martyr’s palm and pair of pincers clenching a tooth (a reference to the way she was tortured before her martyrdom). To confirm their identities, the saints’ names have been inscribed on the ledge beneath them.