The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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The Virgin Mary kneels, her hands clasped in prayer. Her downward gaze meets that of her infant son, Christ, who is lying on the edge of her blue cloak, leaning against a bundle of straw. Saint John the Baptist, Christ's cousin, looks down at him from behind. The scroll he holds bears a Latin inscription that anticipates the words he will say before baptising Christ in the River Jordan ('Behold the Lamb of God'), which may explain the prominent landscape setting.Circular paintings like this one were known as tondi (from the Italian for ‘round’). They were much sought after in fifteenth-century Florence, and the workshop of Sandro Botticelli specialised in their production, as three further examples in the National Gallery's collection demonstrate.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist

Date

probably about 1482-98

Medium

Tempera and oil on wood

Measurements

H 95.3 x W 94 cm

Accession number

NG2497

Acquisition method

Salting Bequest, 1910

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

View venue