How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
The Virgin Mary sits on the lap of her mother, Saint Anne. The Christ Child blesses his cousin Saint John the Baptist (the child on the right). Leonardo also treated the meeting of the two children in his two paintings of the Virgin of the Rocks. Both works are set in a wild mountainous landscape. Saint Anne’s gesture, her finger pointing to heaven, alludes to Christ’s future destiny. Since she does not look very old and seems intimately related to Saint John the Baptist, many scholars have proposed that she is Saint Elizabeth, the Baptist’s mother. However, there is no tradition of placing the Virgin upon Elizabeth’s lap, whereas Saint Anne was often represented in this way. This large drawing is a cartoon, that is, a full-size preparatory study for a painting.
A cartoon of a similar subject by Leonardo drew huge crowds when it was publicly displayed in Florence in 1501. This was probably made for the painting now in the Louvre, Paris. The National Gallery’s cartoon may have been executed slightly earlier in Milan, perhaps after the French invasion of the city. Many artists drew inspiration from these complex and atmospheric drawings.
The National Gallery, London
London
Title
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and the Infant Saint John the Baptist ('The Burlington House Cartoon')
Medium
Charcoal with white chalk on paper, mounted on canvas
Accession number
NG6337
Work type
Painting
-
The Ermine as a Symbol of Purity The Fitzwilliam Museum -
Two Horsemen The Fitzwilliam Museum -
A Rider on a Rearing Horse The Fitzwilliam Museum -
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and the Infant Saint John the Baptist ('The Burlington House Cartoon') The National Gallery, London -
The Virgin of the Rocks (The Virgin with the Infant Saint John adoring the Infant Christ accompanied by an Angel) The National Gallery, London -
An Angel in Green with a Vielle The National Gallery, London -
The Virgin of the Rocks Victoria and Albert Museum - 15 more