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299:(begun 1519), continuing the architecture of the architectural frame and therefore that of the original church setting for which it was painted. This was a radical rethink of the type, apparently set outside some temple portico with large soaring columns, viewed obliquely. The Virgin and Child are no longer at the centre of the composition, but to the right of the picture space.
137:
rapt stillness of mood, in which the Saints, scarcely looking at one another, seem to communicate at a spiritual rather than a material level". At least that is the case in earlier examples; later ones, from the 16th century onwards, often give the impression of more conventional conversations between the figures, who lean towards one another and interact more.
186:
had all the principal figures on a single level, or nearly so. They therefore tended to move towards a horizontal format, as there was little but angels and architecture to put at the top of a vertical one, unless the divine figures were raised on a very high throne, as in the unusual composition of
136:
The term is often used as a title for paintings to avoid listing all the individual figures, although the trend in museums and academic art history is now to give the full list. The name, which only appears as a title retrospectively in the 18th century, has been explained with reference to "their
209:). Often such works, especially if in a horizontal format and at half-length or with seated figures, were painted for the homes of wealthy faithful (and often collectors), whether for a private chapel or to be hung in other rooms, treated not unlike portraits or secular scenes.
762:
306:
concerned. The mixture of figures from different periods that is normal in the type makes it clear that no historical incident is being depicted, and whatever the setting, the space should be understood as mystical rather than any actual place.
386:. It was a northern speciality, when several of the figures beside the Virgin were sitting, on a bench or bank or on the ground, usually in a garden setting within an enclosure of some sort – originally a metaphor for the Virgin's womb, as the
785:
604:" that Palma Vecchio was "the inventor of the large Sacra Conversazione in which full-lengths of saints hold court in the presence of the Virgin ....", suggesting a rather more narrow sense of the term than prevails today.
246:). Having the Virgin the same size as the other figures is often regarded as essential to the type, so disqualifying most earlier works, where the Virgin is shown much larger. Among other artists to depict such a scene are
739:
285:
353:, with the figures mostly seated or kneeling in a rather tight group, combining informality and a monumental classicism. Such compositions also drew on traditional outdoor groups featuring the
205:
was one of the types of image that led to the horizontal format becoming common in panel paintings; before the
Renaissance it was rare in altar pieces (while the format was certainly common in
449:
700:
1073:
721:
557:
The term does not appear, referring to the subject of a picture, before
Italian references at the end of the 18th century; in 1979 the earliest use found was in inventories of the
478:
above the saints on the ground. There is typically a landscape background. As well as filling a vertical picture space, this had other advantages, allowing references to the
401:
These more relaxed groups were continued in
Venetian paintings set in open landscape. By the end of the 16th century, "the dominant relationships in an altarpiece such as
197:(c. 1503). Here as in many works, the Virgin and Child are seated on a throne, but the saints stand, so in more typical examples with the throne only slightly raised on a
510:
compositional type begins before 1500, and becomes increasingly popular during the century following, becoming by its end "the most common type of altarpiece in Italy".
585:). The earliest English meaning, from 1340, is defined by the OED as "The action of living or having one's being in a place or among persons", very close to the Latin.
679:
283:
The early examples such as the
Bellini illustrated rarely show actual "conversation" or much interaction, though this may be seen from the 16th century on, as in the
458:
528:
of 1512 are leading examples; in the latter the two saints are also kneeling on clouds, although the curtains to the sides and the ledge on which the famous angel-
302:
As in earlier altarpieces, the choice of saints is largely dictated by the patron saints of the donor and their family, and those of the church, city, diocese or
549:
588:
As the description of a painting, the term remained little used until the mid-19th century, when it was apparently popularized, at least in
English, by the
642:
660:
581:
is also rather complex; as in
English, it was a long time before the word came to mean merely people talking together (the 7th meaning listed in the
801:
494:
hinting at it may have been preferred by some patrons to a full depiction, which rather required the choice of saints to be restricted to the
109:
may also be included, generally kneeling, often their patron saint is presenting them to the Virgin, and angels are frequently in attendance.
621:
315:
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and
Catholic liturgy. But in these its meaning is more like "pious conduct" or "holy community". The development of meaning of the Italian
335:
had been developing the mostly northern tradition of outside settings in a garden or, especially later, an open landscape. The height of
634:
1257:
619:
was among those complaining about its use. Nigel Gauk-Roger says that the "first true sacra conversazione was almost certainly" the
417:
painting the Virgin is removed from the earth whenever the context allows", and the scenes are often set among the heavenly clouds.
1216:
124:
629:). All of these have standing saints in an architectural setting. Rona Goffen traces the origin of the type further back, to the
410:
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1274:
1243:
1202:
1148:
597:
420:
Examples in sculpture are relatively rare, if only because of the number of figures involved. One exception was planned by
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In
Italian the term is perhaps used more often and more widely than is usually the case in English, for example covering
1319:
425:
86:
1314:
293:. In the first examples the setting is normally architectural, loosely representing heaven, but also, until Titian's
1280:
362:
105:
in a relatively informal grouping, as opposed to the more rigid and hierarchical compositions of earlier periods.
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479:
32:
179:
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1173:
Goffen, Rona. "Nostra
Conversatio in Caelis Est: Observations on the Sacra Conversazione in the Trecento",
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112:
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Most accounts of the development restrict themselves to Italy, ignoring northern parallels, despite the
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Another type of composition developed to suit the needs of vertical format altarpieces with a
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was "probably the first major
Italian artist to employ it repeatedly", painting over twenty.
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413:) were not between the figures within the picture but between them and the spectator." By "
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of about 1503 had allowed a landscape to show above the lower zone with the saints.
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space. While traditional altarpieces generally retained a vertical format, the
1094:
Goffen, 198 and note 4, who refers to the revised "North Italy" volume of 1871
432:, though he left the project before the two Medici patron saints flanking his
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Later art historians have commonly placed the origin of the type in works by
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474:. Here the Virgin and Child are placed, usually upon clouds, in mid-air
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1269:, Vol. I, 1971 (English trans from German), Lund Humphries, London,
1183:"Grove": Nigel Gauk-Roger. "Sacra conversazione." Grove Art Online.
85:), meaning "holy (or sacred) conversation", is a genre developed in
1006:. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Weborn 26 Feb. 2017.
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where the Virgin and Child hover in the air well above the saints.
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and Madonna and Child compositions with angels and other figures.
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56:(frame removed), sometimes considered the "first" instance of the
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1250:
The Art of Italy in the Royal Collection; Renaissance and Baroque
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clearly representing the same type, from as early as 1434–36, as
569:, appears several times in the key texts of the church, from the
166:
developed as artists replaced earlier hieratic and compartmented
1207:
Hope, Charles, "Titian's Life and Times", in Jaffé, David (ed),
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lean keep the setting tied to the earth. From the 1520s onwards
378:, and when she is surrounded by female saints it is known as a
198:
486:. The latter doctrine was still a matter of controversy in the
178:
with compositions in which figures interacted within a unified
993:
Hall, 331, giving a long list of saints on the next two pages.
957:
Boase, T.S.R. (1979). "Giorgio Vasari. The Man and the Book".
582:
407:
Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine and John the Evangelist
286:
Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria
438:
were done; these were made by others following his designs.
561:
from 1763 and 1797. But the term, in its Latin equivalents
625:
by Domenico Veneziano from around 1445–47 (main panel now
1141:
Van Eyck and the Founders of Early Netherlandish Painting
829:– a Victorian gathering focused on the arts or sciences
459:
Virgin and Child with Saint Bernardino and Other Saints
368:
The Virgin placed in an enclosed garden is known as
795:
depicted by a member of the Cologne school, c. 1520
201:, the adult heads are at about the same level. The
120:, 1505, who also developed types for wealthy homes.
1287:, 1970, London: Thames and Hudson (World of Art),
1211:, The National Gallery Company/Yale, London 2003,
1236:The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, Volume I
1195:Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art
130:Madonna and Child with Saints Dorothy and George
1187:. Oxford University Press. Weborn 4 Mar. 2017.
550:The Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele
65:
8:
1234:, National Gallery Catalogues (new series):
848:in Encyclopædia Britannica; but not by Grove
793:Triptych of the Virgin and Child with Saints
633:, examining several examples, many from the
1238:, 2004, National Gallery Publications Ltd,
1177:, vol. 61, no. 2, 1979, pp. 198–222.,
388:
380:
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349:became a specialist in strongly horizontal
1002:RC, 214; Grove; Rylands, Philip, "Palma."
773:The Virgin and Child with Saints and Donor
1143:, p. 82, 1999, Harvey Miller Publishers,
643:Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele
398:, marking Mary's conception of Christ.
262:. Some scholars have suggested that the
1252:, Royal Collection Publications, 2007,
838:
756:, in this case the artist and his wife.
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1248:"RC": Lucy Whitaker, Martin Clayton,
76:
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1285:Venetian painting: A concise history
1112:Goffen, 199, citing several examples
331:Also in the 1510s, Titian and other
278:"prima conversazione sacra italiana"
635:Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi
622:Santa Lucia de' Magnoli Altarpiece
78:[ˈsaːkrakoɱversatˈtsjoːne]
25:
394:began as a representation of the
144:compositions in the tradition of
1197:, 1996 (2nd edn.), John Murray,
1027:Schiller, 52–55 & figs 126-9
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1074:this Wikimedia Commons category
411:Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna
1228:, 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2017
1223:Glossary: Sacra Conversazione.
1:
359:Rest on the Flight into Egypt
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1267:Iconography of Christian Art
590:History of Painting in Italy
87:Italian Renaissance painting
959:Bollingen Series, Princeton
1336:
1063:Penny, 163–165, 163 quoted
592:(3 volumes, 1864–1866) by
466:composition, c. 1540–1545.
363:Adoration of the Shepherds
89:, with a depiction of the
319:Landscape setting with a
1072:Penny, 163, quoted; see
615:or Fra Angelico, though
500:Coronation of the Virgin
480:Coronation of the Virgin
116:Example for a church by
276:can be regarded as the
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791:Hortus conclusus in
752:, c. 1509, with two
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667:Castelfranco Madonna
646:(and two saints) by
382:Virgo inter Virgines
342:Castelfranco Madonna
235:Barbadori Altarpiece
219:San Marco Altarpiece
190:Castelfranco Madonna
101:) amidst a group of
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920:Steer, 79–84; Grove
846:sacra conversazione
492:sacra conversatione
472:sacra conversatione
351:sacre conversazioni
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203:sacra conversazione
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164:sacra conversazione
83:sacre conversazioni
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1130:Goffen, throughout
1076:for many of these.
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534:Moretto da Brescia
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484:Assumption of Mary
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225:Fiesole Altarpiece
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1263:Schiller, Gertrud
1185:Oxford Art Online
730:Pesaro Altarpiece
654:has pointed out.
563:santa conversatio
403:Annibale Carracci
296:Pesaro Altarpiece
222:(c. 1438–43) and
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63:
57:
47:Fra Angelico
40:
36:
29:
1281:Steer, John
1217:1 857099036
857:Rylands; NG
488:Reformation
355:Holy Family
268:painted by
176:altarpieces
158:Development
95:Virgin Mary
1304:Categories
1293:0500201013
1275:0853312702
1244:1857099087
1203:0719541476
1168:References
1149:1872501281
652:Otto Pächt
81:; plural:
64:In art, a
1054:Hall, 325
1045:Hall, 327
965:(20): 90.
929:Hall, 297
727:Titian's
694:, 1512–13
673:, c. 1503
671:Giorgione
553:, 1434–36
540:Etymology
476:(in aria)
337:Giorgione
333:Venetians
327:, c. 1519
195:Giorgione
172:polyptych
132:, 1515–18
97:with the
984:Hope, 16
816:See also
631:Trecento
609:Masaccio
496:Apostles
490:, and a
430:Florence
424:for the
232:and the
168:triptych
128:Titian,
74:Italian:
42:predella
938:RC, 214
692:Raphael
571:Vulgate
514:Raphael
508:in aria
482:or the
464:in aria
443:In aria
415:Baroque
409:(1593,
242:(1437,
146:Raphael
142:in aria
1291:
1273:
1256:
1242:
1221:"NG":
1215:
1209:Titian
1201:
1147:
810:, 1627
808:Rubens
715:, 1517
627:Uffizi
506:. The
361:, the
291:Titian
270:Duccio
265:Maestà
258:, and
244:Louvre
207:murals
103:saints
60:format
1121:Grove
1036:Grove
1018:Grove
947:Grove
902:Grove
875:Grove
834:Notes
779:type.
594:Crowe
530:putti
93:(the
39:with
1289:ISBN
1271:ISBN
1254:ISBN
1240:ISBN
1213:ISBN
1199:ISBN
1145:ISBN
602:élan
596:and
565:and
199:dais
187:the
162:The
963:XXV
583:OED
516:'s
428:in
405:’s
339:'s
289:by
238:by
228:by
193:by
170:or
148:'s
45:by
1306::
1283:,
1265:,
975:NG
961:.
893:NG
771:,
748:,
709:,
690:,
669:,
611:,
456:,
323:,
280:.
254:,
250:,
51:c.
49:,
1277:,
72:(
20:)
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