Madonna and Child with Angels and Saints Anthony of Padua and Nicolas of Tolentino by Matteo Giovanni

The work Madonna and Child with Angels and Saints Anthony of Padua and Nicolas of Tolentino was painted by Sienese artist Matteo di Giovanni sometime in the early 1470's (Thomas.) The media is tempra and oil on arched canvas. It is twenty-four and one-eighth inches tall and fifteen inches across (Cincinnati Art Museum.) The painting has no atmosphere. The background is painted gold, a feature reminiscent of the Byzantine Era. Inscribed in the golden backdrop are the words "oglorisa domina escla svpe." This means roughly, "glory to the matriarch," or "glory to the female deity" (Central Ita…