ARTWORKS

Madonna of the Meadow

Giovanni Bellini (1431/1436–1516)

The National Gallery, London

Madonna of the Meadow

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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.

Buy a print or image licence

You can purchase this reproduction

If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.

Order a print

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 adores the Christ Child sleeping on her lap. Giovanni Bellini was one of the first Italian painters to use natural settings to enhance the meaning of his pictures. Here, the still Virgin contrasts with the landscape, where the varying shapes of the clouds, from thin and wispy to fat and fluffy, and the shadows on them give the impression of changeable weather. The clarity of the light, which casts a pale glow on everything it touches, from the Virgin’s right sleeve to the walls of the castle in the distance, suggests it is springtime.

Christ’s pose would have reminded contemporary viewers of a type of picture known as the Lamentation, or pietà, which showed Christ after his death lying across his mother’s knees. And yet the carefully observed landscape evokes hopefulness: spring is a time of renewal in nature and of Easter, the moment of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

The National Gallery, London

London

Read more on The National Gallery, London
Title

Madonna of the Meadow

Date

about 1500

Medium

Oil and egg on synthetic panel, transferred from wood

Measurements

H 67.3 x W 86.4 cm

Accession number

NG599

Acquisition method

Bought, 1858

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Learn more Tag this
Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue

Artist or maker

Giovanni Bellini

1431/1436–1516

View profile
  • Virgin and Child
    Virgin and Child Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
  • Virgin and Child
    Virgin and Child The Burrell Collection
  • The Virgin and Child
    The Virgin and Child Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
  • Nativity
    Nativity The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
  • Saint Jerome in the Wilderness
    Saint Jerome in the Wilderness The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
  • Madonna and Child
    Madonna and Child Southampton City Art Gallery
  • The Descent of Christ into Limbo
    The Descent of Christ into Limbo Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
  • 30 more

Stories