Favourite Paintings: 'Virgin of Humility' by Fra Angelico

Another favourite painting is the 'Virgin of Humility' by Fr Angelico. It's part of the Thyssen-Bornimesza collection but is on permanent loan to the National Museum of Art of Catalonia in Barcelona. I first saw it at an exhibition about the collection in Barcelona and it was the first painting you saw as you walked through the door. I saw it again last year at the great exhibition about the Fra in Madrid. It's painted onto a wooden panel and was created over 1433-35 so is a mid-period painting from the Fra.

I love the simple composition of the painting, just the Virgin and Child with five angels, three holding up the cloth of gold behind the Virgin and two at her feet playing music for the holy pair. The baby rests his head against his mother's cheek and offers her a lily. The Virgin holds a vase with roses and a single lily. The cloth of gold is intricate and looks heavy and obviously rich. The angels look too delicate to be able to hold something so heavy but the do so easily. There's a limit to what you can see in a photo online but if you look closely you can see the heavily embroidered thread in the cloth.

I think this is one of the prettiest depictions of the Virgin that the Fra painted. Look closely and you can see her hair to the side of her veils and see it curling underneath her ear. You can slo see that the Child is  wearing a shirt underneath his almost transparent pink robe. The cloth of gold creates a great 3-D effect with the folds across the small rosettes. It's all very effective and realistic. And beautiful. 

It's a very peaceful and serene painting, almost a meditative piece. The amount of fine details suggest it was meant to be seen up close (at least by the merchant prince who commissioned it). I like to imagine seeing the painting in the dark, lit only by flickering candles and seeing the light dance across the painting reflecting all the gold. I wonder if looks like the Virgin and Child are breathing? Imagine having this in your own private chapel and treasuring it, keeping it safe for all this time. I really ought to so more research into this gorgeous painting.

I'd also love to know more about the frame and whether it's original or added later. There's a label at the bottom saying that it was owned by Leopold II of Belgium. The photos I've used aren't the best quality since they were taken on my phone, but they're mine.