Madonna and Child

Carlo Crivelli may not be the first name that comes to your mind when you think about Medieval art. But looking at this gigantic cucumber over Madonna's head, don't you think it is a bit unfair?

Crivelli was an Italian Renaissance painter of conservative Late Gothic decorative sensibility, who developed a distinctive personal style. His Madonnas and female saints look like they truly despise the world. At the same time, they are very elegant with elongated and noble posture.

This perfectly preserved work is one of the artist's most exquisite pictures. Flemish painting may have inspired the remarkable precision of detail in the background, where turbaned figures (infidels) stroll. Trompe-l’oeil details are played against the doll-like prettiness of the Virgin. The apples and fly which are symbols of sin and evil are opposed to the cucumber and the goldfinch, symbols of redemption. Crivelli’s signature is on what looks like a piece of paper attached to the watered-silk cloth with wax.

I fell in love with this cucumber. I don't believe it was only a symbol of redemption here. 

P.S. It's time to get to know why babies in Medieval paintings look like ugly old men! Here's the answer.