Madonna and Child

37 artworks found

Two figures, one of them an infant, in almost every possible arrangement. The Madonna and Child is the most repeated composition in Western art, which is exactly why the small variations between one and the next carry so much.

A Mother and Child Looking at the Virgin and Child by Reginald Bottomley - Framed Canvas

A Mother and Child Looking at the Virgin and Child by Reginald Bottomley - Framed Canvas

By: Reginald Bottomley

Madonna and Child with St Petronius and St John the Evangelist by Domenichino - Framed Canvas

Madonna and Child with St Petronius and St John the Evangelist by Domenichino - Framed Canvas

By: Domenichino

Madonna and Child with St Justus of Volterra and St Margaret of Antioch by Bastiano Mainardi - Framed Canvas

Madonna and Child with St Justus of Volterra and St Margaret of Antioch by Bastiano Mainardi - Framed Canvas

By: Bastiano Mainardi

Madonna and Child by Giampietrino - Framed Canvas

Madonna and Child by Giampietrino - Framed Canvas

By: Giampietrino

Madonna col Bambino tra S. Geremia e Maria Maddalena by Cima da Conegliano - Framed Canvas

Madonna col Bambino tra S. Geremia e Maria Maddalena by Cima da Conegliano - Framed Canvas

By: Cima da Conegliano

Nursing Madonna by Bartolomeo Vivarini - Framed Canvas

Nursing Madonna by Bartolomeo Vivarini - Framed Canvas

By: Bartolomeo Vivarini

Madonna col Bambino tra i santi Giovanni evangelista e Nicola di Bari by Cima da Conegliano - Framed Canvas

Madonna col Bambino tra i santi Giovanni evangelista e Nicola di Bari by Cima da Conegliano - Framed Canvas

By: Cima da Conegliano

Madonna and Child by Giovanni Bellini - Framed Canvas

Madonna and Child by Giovanni Bellini - Framed Canvas

By: Giovanni Bellini

Madonna of the Basket by Antonio da Correggio - Framed Canvas

Madonna of the Basket by Antonio da Correggio - Framed Canvas

By: Antonio da Correggio

Madonna of the Catholic Kings by Fernando Gallego - Framed Canvas

Madonna of the Catholic Kings by Fernando Gallego - Framed Canvas

By: Fernando Gallego

Madonna and Child by Pietro Lorenzetti - Framed Canvas

Madonna and Child by Pietro Lorenzetti - Framed Canvas

By: Pietro Lorenzetti

Madonna and Child with Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian by Lorenzo Lotto - Framed Canvas

Madonna and Child with Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian by Lorenzo Lotto - Framed Canvas

By: Lorenzo Lotto

Madonna with the Child and Two Angels by Filippo Lippi - Framed Canvas

Madonna with the Child and Two Angels by Filippo Lippi - Framed Canvas

By: Filippo Lippi

Madonna and Child with Saints by Cima da Conegliano - Framed Canvas

Madonna and Child with Saints by Cima da Conegliano - Framed Canvas

By: Cima da Conegliano

Maestà by Duccio di Buoninsegna - Framed Canvas

Maestà by Duccio di Buoninsegna - Framed Canvas

By: Duccio di Buoninsegna

Madonna and Child with St Dorothy by David Teniers the Younger - Framed Canvas

Madonna and Child with St Dorothy by David Teniers the Younger - Framed Canvas

By: David Teniers the Younger

Sacred Conversation by Cima da Conegliano - Framed Canvas

Sacred Conversation by Cima da Conegliano - Framed Canvas

By: Cima da Conegliano

Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist by Eustache Le Sueur - Framed Canvas

Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist by Eustache Le Sueur - Framed Canvas

By: Eustache Le Sueur

Madonna of the Rose Garden by Bernardino Luini - Framed Canvas

Madonna of the Rose Garden by Bernardino Luini - Framed Canvas

By: Bernardino Luini

Madonna and Child with Saint Catherine and Saint Mary Magdalene by Giovanni Bellini - Matte Canvas

Madonna and Child with Saint Catherine and Saint Mary Magdalene by Giovanni Bellini - Matte Canvas

By: Giovanni Bellini

The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (Madonna Stroganoff) by Agnolo Bronzino - Framed Canvas

The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (Madonna Stroganoff) by Agnolo Bronzino - Framed Canvas

By: Agnolo Bronzino

The Child's Bath by Mary Cassatt - Framed Canvas

The Child's Bath by Mary Cassatt - Framed Canvas

By: Mary Cassatt

The Madonna and Child with Saints James the Greater, Jerome, the Infant Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria by Bonifazio Veronese - Matte Canvas

The Madonna and Child with Saints James the Greater, Jerome, the Infant Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria by Bonifazio Veronese - Matte Canvas

By: Bonifazio Veronese

The Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Catherine of Alexandria by Bonifazio Veronese - Framed Canvas

The Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Catherine of Alexandria by Bonifazio Veronese - Framed Canvas

By: Bonifazio Veronese

The Virgin and Child Enthroned among Angels and Saints by Benozzo Gozzoli - Framed Canvas

The Virgin and Child Enthroned among Angels and Saints by Benozzo Gozzoli - Framed Canvas

By: Benozzo Gozzoli

The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci - Framed Canvas

The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci - Framed Canvas

By: Leonardo da Vinci

The Virgin and Child with Saint John by Antonio Solario - Framed Canvas

The Virgin and Child with Saint John by Antonio Solario - Framed Canvas

By: Antonio Solario

The Virgin and Child with Saint John by Filippino Lippi - Framed Canvas

The Virgin and Child with Saint John by Filippino Lippi - Framed Canvas

By: Filippino Lippi

Virgin and Child by Ugolino di Nerio - Framed Canvas

Virgin and Child by Ugolino di Nerio - Framed Canvas

By: Ugolino di Nerio

Virgin and Child with Angels and Saints by Felice Torelli - Matte Canvas

Virgin and Child with Angels and Saints by Felice Torelli - Matte Canvas

By: Felice Torelli

Virgin and Child with Two Angels by Cimabue - Framed Canvas

Virgin and Child with Two Angels by Cimabue - Framed Canvas

By: Cimabue

Virgin & Child Embracing by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato - Framed Canvas

Virgin & Child Embracing by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato - Framed Canvas

By: Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato

Virgin Mary and Child Jesus by Roberto Ferruzzi - Framed Canvas

Virgin Mary and Child Jesus by Roberto Ferruzzi - Framed Canvas

By: Roberto Ferruzzi

Madonna and Child with Saint Anne (Dei Palafrenieri) by Caravaggio - Framed Canvas

Madonna and Child with Saint Anne (Dei Palafrenieri) by Caravaggio - Framed Canvas

By: Caravaggio

Madonna of the Pear by Giovanni Bellini - Framed Canvas

Madonna of the Pear by Giovanni Bellini - Framed Canvas

By: Giovanni Bellini

The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne by Leonardo da Vinci - Framed Canvas

The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne by Leonardo da Vinci - Framed Canvas

By: Leonardo da Vinci

The Virgin and Child by Giovanni Bellini - Framed Canvas

The Virgin and Child by Giovanni Bellini - Framed Canvas

By: Giovanni Bellini

Reading a Madonna and Child

The fixed problem is the child. Early versions hardly attempt an infant — the Christ of a Byzantine panel is a miniature adult, upright and blessing, because he is being shown as God rather than as a baby. Italian painters spent the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries gradually conceding the point: a hand reaching for the mother's face, a foot crossing over the other, weight settling into an arm.

Watch the hands, which is where painters put the meaning. A child grasping his mother's veil is affection. A child holding a goldfinch — a bird associated with the Passion — is a prophecy, and the mother's expression usually acknowledges it. A child asleep is not resting; the pose quotes the Pietà, and every contemporary viewer would have read it.

The setting tells you the century. Gold ground means the figures stand outside time. A landscape behind them, opening through a window, means the Renaissance has arrived and the Incarnation is being placed in a world with weather in it. A dark, close interior with a single raking light means the Baroque, and that you are meant to feel you have come upon them unannounced.