The Virgin and Child with Cherubim

Bernardino Fungai painted this Virgin and Child with Cherubim around 1500 in Siena. Fungai was among the last significant painters of the Sienese tradition, maintaining the decorative elegance of the school as it was increasingly influenced by broader Renaissance developments. The cherubim surrounding the Madonna evoke a heavenly atmosphere. 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.

Tempera on panel with Sienese refinement of line and warm palette. The cherubim heads create a decorative frame around the central devotional group, maintaining the ornamental tradition of Sienese painting.