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Notes
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The dark background and absence of any furnishings focus attention on the Virgin Mary, who makes direct eye contact with the viewer. She stands underneath an open curtain, holding her infant son as if to prevent him from falling from the narrow ledge in the foreground. A transparent veil does little to conceal Christ's body.The pose of the Virgin and Christ Child is very close to the central part of the altarpiece that Sandro Botticelli made for the Florentine church of S. Barnaba during the late 1480s. Numerous assistants in Botticelli’s workshop would have been tasked to meet the high demand for copies after this popular altarpiece.The small dimensions of this panel could possibly have allowed its original owner, perhaps a Florentine merchant, to take it on his travels.
Title
The Virgin and Child
Date
probably about 1485-1500
Medium
Tempera on wood
Measurements
H 29.5 x W 19.7 cm
Accession number
NG3082
Acquisition method
Layard Bequest, 1916
Work type
Painting
