Madonna with the Sleeping Child

Girolamo da Treviso the Elder, active in the Veneto during the late fifteenth century, painted this Madonna with the Sleeping Child around 1482. Not to be confused with his more famous namesake of the next generation, the elder Girolamo worked in a style influenced by Giovanni Bellini and the Vivarini workshop. The sleeping Christ Child motif carried Eucharistic symbolism, prefiguring Christ's death.

Tempera on panel with soft Venetian-influenced coloring and gentle modeling. The intimate devotional composition follows the half-length Madonna format popular in the Veneto.