Madonna and Child

Follower of Fra Filippo Lippi and Pesellino

National Gallery of Art

Shown from the lap up, a young woman sits behind the back corner of a gray, stone platform, supporting a small naked baby boy standing on the ledge in this vertical painting. Both have pale, almost golden skin tones and blond hair. The woman sits with her body angled to our right, and she tilts her head down toward the baby, looking past him with hooded, brown eyes. Her wavy hair is tied back and held with a thin red band above her forehead. A white veil over the crown of her head drapes down the back of her neck and wraps loosely around her shoulders. She wears a flowing, wide-sleeved robe of cobalt blue trimmed with a band of gold embroidery in designs resembling calligraphic letters. The navy-blue lining, seen at the sleeves and collar, is densely flecked with gold dots. The hems of her rose-pink dress, visible at her forearms and chest, are edged with gold embroidery and white lace. The baby stands on the ledge in front of the woman, slightly to our right. Her right hand, on our left, rests on the baby’s right shoulder with one finger brushing his cheek, while her other hand supports his other side at his waist. The child stands on pudgy legs with his left foot forward, hips sharply tilted down toward his left hip. His body faces us, but his brown eyes look over and past our left shoulder, into the distance. He has short curly hair, a round face and cheeks, and delicate facial features. His hands are raised to his chest so the thumb of his right hand touches the palm of his left. Flat, plate-like golden halos seem to rest atop both of their heads. Each halo has a black rim and is decorated with rings of dots. Filling the background immediately behind them, crisscrossing branches of a thorny rosebush fills the panel. More than two dozen white, pink, and red roses are shown in all stages, from bud to bloom, and the branches are lined with jagged-edged, deep green leaves. The roses are set against a cloudless sky that fades from powder blue along the top to nearly white along the bottom.