Mom and a newborn are one of the most popular subjects in art.
He was given special attention by both popular and well-known artists (Leonardo da Vinci and Rafael Santi), and little known to the general public (Bartolomeo Murillo, di Marcovaldo and others).
Virgin Maria di Marcovaldo
Coppo di Marcovaldo is considered the founder of the Siena School of Fine Arts. His fate is quite interesting, since in the middle of the XIII century. he participated in one of the battles on the side of the Florentine adherents of the Pope, as a result of which the artist was captured. But since he was very talented, he was able to “buy” himself freedom by drawing a very beautiful and quite realistic image of the Madonna and Child, which was then transferred to the Siena Church. This madonna is called "Madonna del Bordone."
This picture represents the viewer the Virgin Mary, sitting on a throne, slightly raising one leg, so that the baby could sit comfortably in her arms. She touchingly holds his leg, and he reaches for her hand. They already have some noticeable interaction, which was not observed in earlier paintings.
The head of the Virgin is surrounded by a barely visible halo. It is worth noting the incredibly expressive eyes of this Madonna. She looks at the viewer, as if looking into his soul. Her clothes are a simple black cloak, but for greater elegance, the artist painted the draperies in gold. On the sides, left and right, there are angels depicted in full growth (this is the tradition of Florence). Usually they were painted the same, but these, if you look closely, are not completely identical to each other: the differences are in their faces.
From the less well-known we will move on to the more popular ones and consider in more detail the most striking paintings on this subject.
"Madonna Litta" by Leonardo da Vinci
One of the most famous paintings depicting the Madonna and Child is the painting "Madonna Litta" by the brightest Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Now it can be seen among the masterpieces stored in the Hermitage.
The main face on this canvas is a young woman who holds the baby in her arms and breastfeeds him. As in all paintings of the Renaissance, it stands out with brighter colors compared to the background, where the viewer can see windows in the form of arches through which you can see a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds. It is worth noting that the madonna and child are drawn very clearly, her features seem to be highlighted, as if painted under the camera’s flash, compared with a somewhat smeared background - these are also the distinguishing features of portraits of that era.
Mom gently looks at the child. It seems to some that she smiles slightly (the Leonardo’s smile, popular for the artist’s paintings), in fact, the Madonna is thoughtful. The child looks at the viewer, holding in one of the pens a bird - a small carduelis.
Goldfinch in the painting "Madonna Litta"
There are various versions of why the chick is depicted in this picture.
- The bird as a symbol of the future sufferings of Christ, where the red head of the carduelis denotes blood shed by the Son of God. According to legend, when Christ was led to Calvary, a goldfinch flew at him, pulled a thorn out of Jesus' eyebrow, and blood dripped on him.
- An angler, symbolizing the soul, which flies off after death: this designation comes from ancient paganism, but is preserved in Christian semiotics.
- The apocryphal gospel from Thomas tells a slightly different story: Jesus revived the dead grave, just picking it up, which is why many of the paintings show this chick together with a baby.
Madonna Raphael Santi
But there is another, no less famous madonna and child. Rafael Santi was the one who wrote it. Rather, he has a lot of paintings with the following plot: this is the well-known “Sistine Madonna” and the “Conestabile Madonna” stored in the Hermitage, and the unusual “Madonna and Veil”, which depicts not only mother and child, but everything Holy family.
Rafael painted the painting with the title “Madonna and Child” in 1503. The woman on it is more refined and undoubtedly younger than that of da Vinci. Obviously, the relationship between mother and child is more pronounced. They look at each other with touching love and light thoughtfulness, mother supports the baby by the back with his hand. This is not the disturbing Virgo that can be seen in the artist’s early paintings.
Together they read the book "Hourly Book" - a symbol of the authority of the church - which contains texts of prayers, psalms, church services (earlier, by the way, they learned to read from this book). According to some reports, the Hourly Book is open on the page that corresponds to nine hours, and this is the time when Jesus was crucified on the cross.
A smoky landscape with a church and trees is painted on the background. By the way, this landscape can also be called a distinctive characteristic of Santi's works on the theme of mother and child. Almost every painting by Raphael has a fairly detailed traced landscape background.
It makes no sense to determine whose picture is better: da Vinci or Raphael. Madonna and child with each of them looks original and unique.
Not only art was interested in the theme of mother and child, therefore, it is worth considering how it was reflected in other forms.
Madonna and child in sculpture
The attention of any art lover is attracted by the sculpture "Madonna and Child", authored by the famous master Michelangelo.
According to the plan of the customers, this masterpiece was supposed to be at a height of about nine meters, so the audience would look at it from the bottom up, like a deity. By the way, it is for this reason that the eyes of the mother and child are directed down.
There is evidence that Cardinal Piccolomini (the first customer) was dissatisfied with the sketches, primarily because Jesus was naked, so their contract with Michelangelo was broken. And the sculpture, of course, found its owner. They became de Muskron - a merchant from the city of Bruges. Then he handed it to the Church of Our Lady, where she was placed in a dark niche that contrasted beautifully with the marble-white color of the sculpture itself.
At the moment, in order to protect a work of art, the city authorities placed it behind bulletproof glass.
"Madonna Doni" by Michelangelo
In addition to being a great sculptor, Michelangelo was also a great artist. Although he did not consider this an achievement and was not at all proud of his talent.
The images painted by him amaze the viewer with incredible plasticity, it seems that even when drawing he "sculpts" the figures, giving them volume. In addition, the painting depicts the entire Holy Family, which was rare for paintings of this kind. Of course, in the full sense of the word, Michelangelo is a sculptor, not an artist. "Madonna and Child" however is just a masterpiece.
So to summarize. If we talk about the most famous painting depicting the Virgin Mary, then this is the masterpiece of Leonardo da Vinci "Madonna and Child". If a person is interested in other forms of art, then the work of Michelangelo is undoubtedly the most vivid and memorable.