Madonna and Child, c. 1480 by Benvenuto di Giovanni

About the artwork This arched tempera panel depicts the Virgin Mary presenting a pomegranate to the Christ Child, set against a richly tooled gold ground with inscribed halo bearing the text Ave Gratia Plena. The pomegranate, a recurring symbol in Sienese devotional painting, references the Passion of Christ and the Resurrection. The work is attributed to Benvenuto di Giovanni and is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. About the artist Benvenuto di Giovanni was a Sienese painter active in the second half of the 15th century. He is recognized as one of the leading practitioners of the late Sienese school, maintaining the tradition of gold-ground devotional painting while incorporating elements of early Renaissance figural naturalism.