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Notes

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This panel shows a twelfth-century monk, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, having a vision of the Virgin Mary. It is shaped like an 'overdoor' -- a picture designed to hang above a doorway -- and was probably made to decorate the Palazzo Vecchio (the town hall) in Florence; Saint Bernard was patron saint of the building.Bernard is depicted wearing a simple hooded cloak, seated in a rocky wooded setting. He has retreated there to read, write and immerse himself in spiritual contemplation; craggy rocks serve as a seat and desk. The paint surface is very worn but very faint traces of a pen in his right hand are still visible and his ink stand sits on top of his writing box.Lippi's son Filippino made a painting of this subject in which the Virgin is clearly dictating to the saint -- our picture probably tells the same story.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Saint Bernard's Vision of the Virgin

Date

1447

Medium

Egg tempera on wood

Measurements

H 94.3 x W 106 cm

Accession number

NG248

Acquisition method

Bought, 1854

Work type

Painting

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

View venue

Artist or maker

Filippo Lippi

c.1406–1469

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