GOZZOLI, Benozzo
(b. ca. 1420, Firenze, d. 1497, Pistoia)

The Virgin and Child with SS. Gregory, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, Julian, Dominic, and Francis
c. 1476-1477
152.5 x 157.5 cm, tempera on wood
Purchased 1952
National Gallery of Canada (no. 6084)

The scene illustrates a `"Sacra Conversazione", or "holy assembly," of the Virgin and Child with saints, a popular theme in Renaissance painting. Depicted on either side of the Virgin and Christ Child are six saints associated with the Salviati family, who commissioned this altarpiece for a church in Pisa (as evident from the inscription along the bottom). Although these Christian saints, identified by their halos and attributes, lived in different eras, they are united here in the presence of the Virgin and Child, the objects of their devotion.