Madonna and Child facts for kids

The della Robbia Workshop, c.1500, Florence

The Madonna and Child or The Virgin and Child is often the name of a work of art which shows the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. The word Madonna means "My Lady" in Italian. Artworks of the Christ Child and his mother Mary are part of the Roman Catholic tradition in many parts of the world including Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, South America and the Philippines. Paintings known as icons are also an important tradition of the Orthodox Church and often show the Mary and the Christ Child. They are found particularly in Eastern Europe, Russia, Egypt, the Middle East and India.

Types of art work
Famous images of the Madonna and Child
Gallery of famous Madonna and Child artworks
Images for kids
See also

Types of art work

by Giovanni Bellini, c.1500, Venice.

Paintings

Works of art which show the Madonna and Child can be paintings or sculptures. Some paintings are very large and show the Madonna on a throne, with saints standing around it. These paintings are altarpieces; they are designed to go above the altar in a church.

In some churches, particularly in Italy and in Eastern Orthodox Churches, there are many wall paintings and mosaics of the Madonna and Child.

Most Madonna and Child paintings are small. They have been painted for private owners and would usually have been kept in houses. They might be hung on the wall above a table where flowers and candles could be placed to honour the Virgin Mary. Most of the famous ones are now in art galleries.

Statue of the Madonna and Child, Abbey of Fontenay, Burgundy.

Sculpture

Many Catholic churches have statues of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, These are sometimes life-sized and are painted, with real hair and glass eyes so that they look lifelike.

Other statues of the Madonna and Child are very small. In the Middle Ages small statues were carved from ivory. These precious statues are often very beautifully and delicately made. They can often be seen in museums.

In Florence in the early 1400s, an artist called Luca della Robbia began making terracotta statues and sculptured altarpieces from clay, which were fired and glazed with colours, most often blue and white, but also purple, green and yellow. This family business lasted for 120 years.

Many statues of the Madonna and Child may be factory-made and sold as souvenirs. This tradition of small statues has been around for hundreds of years. Many of them were made in artist's workshops in the Early Renaissance

Icons

In the Orthodox Church, there is also a long tradition of painting images of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child. These pictures, which are often quite small and are painted on wooden panels, are often very careful copies of particular famous icons. This tradition continues to the present day.

Famous images of the Madonna and Child

by Cimabue, c.1270, Florence, now in the Louvre.

Large altarpieces

The Trinita Madonna, by Cimabue, 1280
The Rucellai Madonna, by Duccio, 1285
The Maesta, the Madonna in Majesty by Duccio, c.1308. Duomo Museo, Siena, Italy.
The Ognissanti Madonna, by Giotto, 1310

These three famous paintings are all together in one room of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Two of these paintings are from the Middle Ages, but Giotto's painting is an Early Renaissance painting, as can be seen in the natural, solid look of the figures which seem to be three dimensional.

The Frari Madonna, by Giovanni Bellini c. 1470 in the Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice
The Madonna of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci. There are two paintings. One is in the National Gallery, London, the other one is in the Louvre, Paris.
The Ansidei Madonna, by Raphael, National Gallery, London
The Sistine Madonna by Raphael, in the Vatican Museum Art Gallery.

Wall paintings

The Madonna of the Sunset by Piero Lorenzetti 1280, Assisi

This little painting by Raphael is in the Hermitage Museum.

Small paintings

The Wilton Diptych. This very rare painting from the Middle Ages was probably done in England and is in the National Gallery, London.
The Madonna of the Magnificat, by Botticelli, Uffizi.
The Doni Tondo, by Michelangelo, 1505, Uffizi.
Raphael did many of these small paintings. They can be seen at the National Gallery, London, the Uffizi, the Louvre and many other art galleries.

Statues

Many churches contain famous statues of the Madonna and Child, particularly old churches.

The Virgin of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. This Madonna is carved of stone.
The Moorish Madonna of Sant' Antonio's Basilica, Padua. This Madonna has dark brown eyes and olive skin.
Many carved wooden Madonnas of the Middle Ages and many terracotta Madonnas by the dell Robbia family can be seen in museums.

The Virgin of Mercy of Saint Theodore, c.950, Byzantine

Icons

The Virgin of Vladimir. 1131. This famous icon from Constantinople (modern Istanbul) is kept at the Tretyakov Gallery Moscow. There are many copies of it.
The Virgin of Chilandari, c.1360. Mount Athos, Greece. This painting which is very badly damaged, is famous for its beauty.

Gallery of famous Madonna and Child artworks

This well-loved picture by the Spanish artist Murillo is in the Pitti Palace Gallery in Florence.
This painting is called the Madonna of the Sunset because the sun shines on its gold background in the afternoon. Mary and baby Jesus are talking about St Francis of Assisi.

The Virgin and Child or The Madonna of the Book by Sandro Botticelli, 1480.
Our Mother of Perpetual Help, Icon of the Virgin Mary, 16th century. St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai.
The Salus Populi Romani icon, overpainted in the 13th century, but going back to an underlying original dated to the 5th or 6th century.
Madonna and Child by Filippo Lippi (15th century)
Icon of the enthroned Virgin and Child with saints and angels, and the Hand of God above, 6th century, Saint Catherine's Monastery, perhaps the earliest iconic image of the subject to survive.
13th century Madonna with Child in the Italo-Byzantine style.
The Rest on The Flight into Egypt, c. 1510, by Gerard David depicts a close, intimate moment of tenderness where she only has eyes for the Child.
Lorenzo Monaco, Florence, c.1410
The Madonna on a Crescent Moon in Hortus Conclusus by an anonymous painter.
Leonardo da Vinci, a study of the Head of Madonna, c. 1484 AD.
Virgin of the Lilies, Bouguereau, 1899
Black Madonna of Częstochowa, Poland.
Madonna and Angels, Duccio, 1282
Our Mother of Perpetual Help, probably an early Cretan work, 13th or 14th century. A very popular Catholic image, which was certainly in Rome by 1499.
Madonna in the rose-garden, by Stefan Lochner 1448
Madonna and Child Surrounded by Angels by Quentin Matsys
Madonna of Chancellor Rolin, Jan van Eyck, Burgundy, c. 1435
Madonna del Granduca, Raphael, 1505
The Madonna of the Pinks, Raphael, probably before 1507
Maria Hilf by Lucas Cranach the Elder, c. 1530
Virgin Mary by Sassoferrato, 17th century. Lobkowicz Palace, Prague, Czech Republic.
Virgin and Child with Angels and Saints, Felice Torelli, 17th century
Golden Madonna ofEssen, c. 980
Presbyter Martinus: Madonna as Seat of Wisdom, Italy, 1199
Black Madonna, Barcelona
Madonna on the tomb of Raphael, Pantheon, Rome
Madonna from Holy Week procession in Seville
Statue outside Moscow's New Tretyakov Gallery
Statue Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica, Ottawa, Canada
A roadside Madonna in Ocieka, Poland.
A roadside Madonna alcove in Friuli, Italy.
An ivory cover of the Codex Aureus of Lorsch, Germany, c. 800
Svanhild Evangeliary, an Illuminated manuscript from Essen, 1058-1085.

Images for kids

Mary and Jesus in a Persian miniature
Madonna in Mandorla, Wolfgang Sauber, 12th century
Mary and the child depicted as a hodegetria. Tesselated icon in monumental style, early 13th century. Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai, Egypt
Madonna del Granduca, Raphael, 1505
Madonna in the Vine Arbour by Hans Baldung, c. 1541 (Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame, Strasbourg)
Virgin Mary by El Greco, c. 1600 (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg)
A fresco of a black Madonna and Jesus at the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum, Ethiopia
Egyptian ivory carving, one of the earliest examples of what in later Byzantine times was called Eleousa, or "Virgin of Tenderness". 7th century.
Black Madonna, Barcelona
La Conquistadora, Santa Fe, New Mexico, pre-1625
Our Lady of Walsingham shrine at Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)