MASTER OF RONCAIETTE (known in Padua, circa 1420 )Virgin of humility with the Child JesusGolden background , poplar panel, one board, not parqueted. Several small losses on the halo and the mantle, lifts, old restorations. 49 x 36 cm This is an image of the Virgin of Humility sitting on the ground in a closed garden, a symbol of modesty, servitude and virginity of the Mother of Christ . This theme, advocated by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, was first depicted on the pediment of the church of Notre-Dame-des-Doms, painted in fresco by the Sienese Simone Martini around 1340, and spread rapidly in Italy and then throughout Europe. In medieval cities, the various strata of the population, rich landowners, merchants, artists, craftsmen and religious companies often chose this theme to pay their devotions to the Virgin in the privacy of their chapels or private oratories. This is the case with this small Madonna, intended for the domestic use of a private individual and part of a late Gothic production of this type of object at the time when the "International Gothic" pictorial movement was flourishing in Italy. Whether illustrating religious or courtly themes, the artists used a fluid style, led by a moving line enveloping the supple bodies of the figures in undulating drapery enhanced by shimmering colours and gleaming gold effects. The Virgin and the saints are no longer hieratic, unattainable idols but divine beings close to humans. This Madonna holding the Child in her arms is seated on the ground in a garden and stands out against the iridescent gold background of engraved rays glorifying her; she is dressed in a crimson red dress covered by a large dark blue mantle decorated with gold ornamental motifs enveloping her body in multiple meanders. The child wears a simple white tunic and a vermilion red cloak and holds a pomegranate in his right hand; with a serious look, premonitory of his tragic end, he tries to attract his Mother's attention by holding the edge of his cloak in his other hand. This work was created at the beginning of the 15th century in the Venetian tradition, where this type of painting flourished following Gentile da Fabriano's stay in Venice in 1408. But it was in Padua in particular that it was created by the Master of Roncaiette. This anonymous master owes his conventional name to a pentaptych in the church of Roncaiette (Ponte di San Nicolo near Padua) showing the Virgin and Child enthroned between four saints (including St. Fidenzio, venerated in the region), which R. Longhi first published together with an Allegory of the Crucifixion (Venice Correr Museum). The catalogue of works by this artist, who worked in Padua in 1420, as indicated by the miniature adorning the Statutes of the Order of Notaries of that city, which he produced at that time, has been greatly expanded by S. Padovani and more justly appreciated by M. Lucco. Among the works attributed to this master, we shall retain the Madonna and Child of the Roncaiette polyptych, probably the oldest, the one painted in fresco in the church of San Clemente in Padua, published by M. Lucco, and the one kept in the Civic Museum of Padua (no. 1151). The comparison between these works undeniably shows the similarities of the hand, both in the presentation of the characters, their expressions with serious and interiorized looks; despite the current state of the work, the similarities are particularly striking with the Madonna of the Padua Museum, where we find the Virgin in the position of Humility, dressed in the same golden brocaded cloak with a twirling line, the same typology of the child whose attitude and the way of draping his garment are identical. R. Longhi, "Calepino veneziano, Il Maestro di Roncaiette" in Arte Veneta, 1947, April-June, n. 2S. Padovani, "Materiale per la storia della pittura ferrarese nel primo Quattrocento" in Antichità Vivà, 1974, n. 5, pp. 3-21. M. Lucco, "Di un affrescho padovano del Maestro di Roncaiette" in Arte Veneta, XXXI, 1977, p.172-175F. Pellegrini in "Da Giotto al Tardo Gotico" exhibition, Padua, Musei Civici, 29 June-December 1989, n. 72, p. 94.