The Madonna of Humility

Lippo di Dalmasio was a Bolognese painter known for his gentle, devotional Madonnas that earned him the nickname 'Lippo delle Madonne.' This Madonna of Humility, dating to around 1395 and now in the National Gallery, London, depicts the Virgin seated on the ground with the Christ Child, an iconographic type that originated in Siena around 1340 and spread rapidly across Italy. Lippo's tender interpretation exemplifies the intimate, emotionally accessible devotional art that characterized late Gothic Bolognese painting.

Executed in egg tempera on panel with gold ground, the painting demonstrates Lippo's hallmark qualities: softly rounded facial features, a gentle sfumato-like modeling of flesh, and a warm palette dominated by ultramarine and rose that creates an atmosphere of tender maternal devotion.