COSIMO ROSSELLI

This panel, the top section of a larger work, represents the Virgin Mary on a throne of clouds in the sky. Red-winged seraphim (a high order of angel) surround a radiant mandorla, an almond-shaped form representing holiness, and twelve stars signifying the twelve apostles. The artist created the rays of brilliant light shining from the Virgin and Child by incising lines into a layer of gesso covered in gold leaf that he has applied to the wood panel.