Antonio Rossellino

(Settignano 1427 – Florence 1479)

Madonna and Child, 1460-61

Carrara marble

Museo della Cattedrale, on deposit from the church of San Domenico in Ferrara by concession of the FEC (Fondo Edifici di Culto) of the Ministry of the Interior

La Madonna and Child by Antonio Rossellino, on deposit from the church of San Domenico thanks to a collaboration with the FEC, was the centerpiece of the sepulchral monument of Francesco Sacrati, a prominent figure in Este Ferrara, once located in the family chapel inside the Dominican temple. Realized in 1461, along with the four other works resulting from the work of his brother Bernardo, the sculpture is one of the Florentine artist’s highest achievements. It transports the extraordinary lesson of Central Italian forms to the Ferrara area and constitutes one of the pinnacles of art in Ferrara in the 15th century, when the city was a crossroads of styles and trends from Lombardy, the Veneto and Tuscany and became one of the most original and important artistic centers of the Italian court system.