Virgin and Child with an Angel
Sandro Botticelli
1475–1485
- Medium
- Tempera on panel
- Dimensions
- 85.8 × 59.1 cm (33 3/4 × 23 1/4 in.); Framed: 106.7 × 80.1 × 7.7 cm (42 × 31 1/2 × 3 in.)
- Genre
- tempera
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Styles
Tags
religionpainting15th centurypaintfamiliesChicago World's FairswomanCentury of ProgressVirgin and child/Madonna and childlovepanel paintingpainting (image making)painting techniquesItalianholy familyRenaissancewood (plant material)Christian subjectsreligiousworld's fairsinteriorAngelsorganic materialchildrenFamilywoman with childrenpanel (wood)european paintingChristianitytemperamother
About
In this humanizing yet idealized depiction of the Virgin Mary embracing the baby Jesus, Sandro Botticelli conveyed the sacred beauty of maternal love. Mary, her expression soft and her skin luminous, nuzzles her son’s chubby cheek as he grasps the nape of her neck. An angel, smaller in scale, looks on adoringly. Highly celebrated in his own lifetime, Botticelli developed a distinctly sentimental and tactile style of painting for both religious and secular subjects.
