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The Madonna and Child with Saint John

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Notes

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The Virgin is seated simply on the ground in the pose known as ‘the Madonna of Humility’, with the Christ Child on her lap and the infant Saint John the Baptist to her side, forming a broad-based pyramid. The motif of the two holy children embracing derives from a design by Leonardo.

Saint John the Baptist has gathered up red fruit – perhaps cherries (known as the Fruit of Paradise) – in the blue cloth over his lap. He holds his traditional attribute of a simple reed cross, and his baptismal bowl hangs at his side.

The painting is very worn and it is hard to tell how much of it was painted by Fra Bartolommeo and how much by his workshop. There are numerous versions of this composition and two of them, in the Galleria Nazionale in Rome and Kenwood House, London, are signed by him and dated 1516.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

The Madonna and Child with Saint John

Date

perhaps about 1516

Medium

Oil on canvas, transferred from wood

Measurements

H 88.3 x W 71.1 cm

Accession number

NG1694

Acquisition method

Bought, 1900

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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