Madonna Ornate Cross Stitch Pattern

Description

Our Madonna Ornate cross stitch pattern was inspired by the oil painting ‘The Virgin in Prayer’ by Italian painter Sassoferrato. The painting is currently held at the National Gallery in London and our project is a close replica.

The Project

We are thrilled to transform a Baroque masterpiece of the Holy Madonna into a cross stitch pattern. This Christian devotional is incredibly beautiful and you’ll love stitching her gentle face and the folds of her blue wrap and gown — in varying shades of DMC Royal Blue, Cornflower and Navy.

In our project we’ve used black Aida cloth to replicate Sassoferrato’s original background. Using black Aida will greatly reduce your stitching time plus bring Mother Mary even closer into view.

Pattern Keeper

Your Madona Ornate Cross Stitch download pack includes an extra chart specially formatted for Pattern Keeper App. We recommend using Pattern Keeper to manage your cross stitch projects.

The Painting

Here’s a bit more about the original painting from the National Gallery London:

“This devotional painting makes us feel as if we are in the same room as the Virgin Mary, who appears almost life-size, praying in quiet devotion. The background is so plain and dark that nothing distracts us from her bowed head framed by a white headdress or her hands pressed gently together. Bright light draws attention to her dazzling blue drapery, giving life to the folds of the fabric. The blue is ultramarine, which was an extremely expensive pigment.”

The Artist

Sassoferrato was a Baroque painter who lived between 1609 – 1685. He was a devotee of the High Renaissance painter Raphael and produced many Christian artworks depicting the Madonna and baby Jesus. His actual name is Giovanni Battista Salvi but he is generally known by the name of the his town, Sassoferrato.

What we particularly love about the artworks of Sassoferrato is the way he uses a dark (or single coloured) background to bring his subjects right up close. This is perfect for cross stitch as the project can be stitched on black (or dark coloured) Aida cloth.

Keep calling back to the store as we transform more of the artworks of Sassoferrato into cross stitch projects.

Additional information