Virgin and Child with an Angel
Sandro Botticelli
1475–85
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.)
Classification
tempera
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
80530
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
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.