Mary with the child in glory adored by six saints

Francesco Francia, the leading painter of late-fifteenth-century Bologna, created this sacra conversazione around 1502 for the Gemäldegalerie Berlin. Francia trained as a goldsmith before turning to painting, and his devotional works were prized for their serene beauty and refined craftsmanship. He dominated Bolognese painting until the arrival of Raphael's Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia in 1515. The tempera medium required careful preparation on a gessoed panel and a disciplined layering technique that produced precise, durable surfaces suited to the intricate detail expected of devotional painting.

The composition arranges the Virgin in glory with six flanking saints in Francia's characteristic symmetrical manner, with the luminous enamel-like surface quality that reflects his goldsmith's training and meticulous tempera-to-oil technique.