Pere Serra, Mare de Déu dels Àngels i Sants (The Virgin of the Angels and Saints), around 1385

At a glance: what will you see?
Apse of Àneu, 1090-1120
Central apse of Sant Climent de Taüll, around 1123
Majestat Batlló, middle of the 12th century
The ciborium of the Cerdanya, around 1195-1200
Frontal of Avià, around 1200
Master of the Conquest of Mallorca. Mural paintings of the Conquest of Mallorca, 1285-1290
Anonymous Castile. Pleurants circa 1295
Pere Serra, Mare de Déu dels Àngels i Sants (The Virgin of the Angels and Saints), around 1385
Lluís Dalmau. The Virgin of the Consellers, 1443-1445
Jaume Huguet. Consecration of Saint Augustine, around 1466-1575
Giovanni da Fiesole, called «Fra Angelico». Madonna of Humility, around 1433-1435
Ayne Bru. Saint Candidus, 1502-1507
Lucas Cranach. The ill-matched couple , 1517
Diego Velázquez. Saint Paul circa 1619
Francisco de Zurbarán. Still life with bowl of quinces, 1633-1664
Marià Fortuny. The Spanish wedding, 1870
Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu in an automobile
Antoni Gaudí. Two-seat sofa, around 1904-1906
Josep Llimona. Grief, 1907
Josep de Togores. Printània, 1922
Josep Masana. Untitled, 1934
Joan Vilatobà. Where in heaven will I find you?, undated
Josep Badosa, Glorious Republican Aviation that has acted so brilliantly on all the fronts, undated
Joan Colom. From the series 5th District, 1960
Toni Catany. Still life #136, 1987
Marià Fortuny. Il contino, 1861
Ramon Casas. Portrait of Pablo Picasso, around 1900
Isidre Nonell. Snow-covered landscape, 1896-1897
Salvador Dalí. Portrait of the artist's father and sister, 1925
Juli González. Montserrat Frightened, 1940
Drachma of Rhode, first third of the 3rd century BC
Episcopal coins of Vic, second half of the 11th century
Treasure Sant Pere de Rodes
Eusebi Arnau. 5th International Exhibition of Art of Barcelona, 1907
10 peseta note from the Generalitat de Catalunya, 1936
Museu Nacional Art Catalunya | Mare de Déu dels Àngels i Sants
 

Pere Serra, Mare de Déu dels Àngels i Sants (The Virgin of the Angels and Saints), around 1385

 

Pere Serra, Mare de Déu dels Àngels i Sants (The Virgin of the Angels and Saints), around 1385

Print

This splendid central panel and the two sections of the predella with saints (that in their time must have flanked a tabernacle) are the only conserved parts of the altarpiece.  Dedicated to the Mother of God, it was painted for one of the chapels of the  ambulatory of the cathedral of Tortosa, probably around the eighth decade of the 14th century.

The compartment of the Virgin and Child surrounded by musical angels is a highly delicate version and refinement of a type of iconography which enjoyed an immense fortune in that time.  

Pere Serra, the author of the altarpiece, belonged to a family of painters who ended up leading the Catalan painting in the second half of the 14th  century.

 

 

Virgin of the Angels, Pere Serra, circa 1385