Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vivarini: The Madonna of Humility Holiday Cards
Wish your loved ones a “Merry Christmas” with these holiday cards featuring a detail from the centerpiece of a triptych by Bartolomeo Vivarini (Italian, active Venice 1450–91) in The Met collection.
Likely intended for private devotion, the original work depicts the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Pietà, with the Madonna of Humility in the center. Although the frame is not original, it conveys the decorative ornamentation typical of the Vivarini.
Please note that The Met’s holiday cards reproduce original works of art, some of which include visual artifacts and imperfections.
About the Design
Vivarini’s debt to the Paduan master Andrea Mantegna is especially evident in the rendering of the landscape and the figure of the Madonna in the Nativity scene. The Vivarinis were a family of Venetian painters whose prolific workshop specialized in large, multi-tiered altarpieces for churches throughout the Veneto region.