Sacra conversazione

In art, the sacra conversazione refers to a depiction of the Madonna with infant Jesus amidst the saints. The form developed during the Italian Renaissance as artists replaced earlier hieratic triptych or polyptych formats with compositions in which figures interacted within a unified perspectival space. Early examples are by Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi. Among other artists to depict such a scene are Piero della Francesca, Giovanni Bellini, Paolo Veronese, and Andrea Mantegna.

See also

• Altarpiece
• Hortus conclusus