Madonna of humility

A Madonna of humility or Virgin of humility is a depiction in art of the Virgin Mary sitting on the ground, or upon a low cushion. She usually holds the Christ Child in her lap, making it one form of the Madonna and Child. The iconography originated in the 14th century, and was most common in that and the following century.

Initially mostly using a gold ground style, when painted backgrounds came to be preferred in the 15th century, this pose is very common in images of the Virgin in a hortus conclusus or "enclosed garden", where the Virgin often sits on the flowery grass.

Humility is a virtue extolled by Saint Francis of Assisi, and this iconography was associated with Franciscan piety, although it was not the creation of the Franciscans, since the artist first associated with the image, Simone Martini, had ties with the Dominicans and may have created the image for them. The word humility derives from the Latin humus, meaning earth or ground.

The earliest known painting of this type dates to 1346 and is at the Museo Nazionale in Palermo. It represents a Madonna seated on a small cushion just above the ground. The Christ Child partially looks at the viewer. The painting bears the inscription Nostra Domina de Humilitate, with the low cushion intended to express her humility. This painting in Palermo is, however, of a somewhat mediocre quality and was perhaps based on a work of Simone Martini. There is a similar painting in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, and both paintings were probably based on a Madonna of humility by Martini. A Virgin of humility fresco by Simone Martini survives in the Palais des Papes in Avignon, France.

An altar was dedicated to the Madonna of Humility, understood as a title, in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence in 1361. This style of painting spread quickly through Italy and by 1375 examples began to appear in Spain, France and Germany. It was the most popular among the depictions of the early Trecento artistic period.

Domenico di Bartolo's Madonna of Humility, painted in 1433, was described by art historian Andrew Ladis as one of the most innovative devotional images of the early Renaissance. The formal symmetry of the strips below her feet and those hovering above her symbolize the harmony of her human nature and status as an earthly woman, with her heavenly queenship. Despite the low seating position, the star and the gems as well as the halo signify her regal status. In this painting, which is at the Pinoteca Nazionale in Siena, Domenico did not use cast shadows as he did in other works such as the Madonna Enthroned.

Filippo Lippi's Madonna of Humility, painted between 1431 and 1437, is also an important work and illustrates Lippi's early style, when he was attentive to Masaccio's use of large and round figures. It was painted during a period when Lippi had dropped out of sight, and had perhaps gone into exile with Cosimo de' Medici.

A miracle attributed to the fresco of the Madonna of Humility painted in circa 1370 gave rise to the construction of the Basilica of Our Lady of Humility in Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy. The fresco is sometimes attributed to Giovanni di Bartolomeo Cristiani, but was perhaps done by a local painter from Pistoia. The Basilica, built by architect Ventura Vitoni, is an important example of high Renaissance architecture. Giorgio Vasari built the octagonal dome atop the Basilica in 1562. The original fresco remains within the Basilica.