"Madonna and Child", Leonardo da Vinci

Mom and the newborn child - one of the most popular subjects in art.

He was given special attention to both popular and well-known artists (Leonardo da Vinci and Rafael Santi), and little known to the general public (Bartolomeo Murillo, di Markovaldo and others).

The Virgin Mary of Markovaldo

Koppo di Markovaldo is considered the founder of the Siena School of Fine Arts. His fate is quite interesting, because in the middle of the 13th century. He participated in one of the battle on the side of the Florentine adherents of the Pope, according to which the artist was captured. But since he was very talented, he was able to "buy" his freedom by drawing a very beautiful and quite realistic image of the Madonna with the baby, which was then handed over to the Siena church. This Madonna was called "Madonna del Bordeaux".

This picture represents the viewer of the Virgin Mary, sitting on the throne, slightly raised one leg, so that the baby would be more comfy to sit in her arms. She touches him touchingly, and he reaches out to her with his hand. They already have some noticeable interaction, which was not observed in the earlier paintings.

The head of Virgo 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 peering into his soul. Her clothes are a simple black cloak, but for greater chic, the artist painted draperies in gold. On the sides, to the left and to the right, are the angels depicted in full length (this is the tradition of Florence). Usually they were drawn 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, let's move on to the more popular ones and look at the most vivid pictures on this topic.

"Madonna Litta" by Leonardo da Vinci

One of the most famous paintings, which depicts the Madonna and Child - is the painting "Madonna of Litta" by the brightest Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Now it can be seen among the masterpieces kept in the Hermitage.

The main person on this canvas is a young woman holding a baby in her arms and feeding him with her breast. As in all Renaissance paintings, it stands out with brighter colors compared to the background, where the viewer can observe windows in the form of arches, through which a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds can be seen. It is worth noting that the Madonna and the baby are drawn very clearly, her features seem to be highlighted, as if drawn under the flash of the camera, compared to a somewhat smeared background - these are also the distinguishing features of the portraits of that era.

Mom looks at the child with tenderness. Some people think that she smiles slightly (popular for the artist's paintings is the "smile of Leonardo"), in fact, the Madonna is thoughtful. The child looks at the viewer, holding a bird in one of the pens - a small slit.

Goldfinch in the picture "Madonna Litta"

There are different versions of why the chick is depicted in this picture.

- A bird as a symbol of the future sufferings of Christ, where the red head of the slag denotes the blood shed by the Son of God. According to the legend, when Christ was led to Calvary, a flaunting woman flew at him, he took out a thorn from the brow of Jesus, and blood was dripped onto him.

- A shcheglenok symbolizing a soul that flies after death: this designation comes from ancient paganism, but it persists in Christian semiotics.

- The apocryphal Gospel of Thomas tells a slightly different story: Jesus revived the dead scheglenka, just taking it in his hands, and therefore depicted in many pictures of this nestling with the baby.

Raphael Santi's Madonna

But there is another, equally famous Madonna with the baby. Rafael Santi was the one who wrote it. Rather, he has a lot of paintings with such a plot: this is the well-known "Sistine Madonna", and the "Madonna Conestabile" kept in the Hermitage, and the extraordinary "Madonna with a Veil", which depicts not only the mother and the child, but all Holy family.

Directly with the title "Madonna and Child" Rafael wrote in 1503, the woman on her more refined and, undoubtedly, more young than Da Vinci. Obviously, the connection between mother and child is more pronounced. They look at each other with touching love and mild reverie, the mother supports the kid in the back with her hand. This is not the anxious Virgo, which can be seen in the artist's early paintings.

Together they read the book "The Hours" - a symbol of the authority of the church - in which texts of prayers, psalms, church services are written down (earlier, by the way, it was this book that learned to read). According to some reports, "Hours" is open on that page, which corresponds to nine o'clock, 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 picture of Raphael has a rather detailed landscape background.

It makes no sense to determine whose picture is better: da Vinci or Raphael. Madonna and Child each of them looks original and unique.

Not only art was interested in the theme of mother and child, so it is worth considering how it was reflected in other forms.

Madonna and Child in Sculpture

Attention of any art connoisseur is attracted by the sculpture "Madonna and Child", the author of which is the famous master Michelangelo.

This masterpiece according to the plan of the customers should have been at an altitude of about nine meters, so viewers 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 downwards.

There are reports that Cardinal Piccolomini (the first customer) was dissatisfied with the sketches, primarily because Jesus was naked, so their contract with Michelangelo was ruptured. And the sculpture, of course, found its owner. They became de Mouscron, a merchant from the city of Bruges. Then he passed it to the church of Our Lady, where she was placed in a dark niche, perfectly contrasted with the marble-white color of the sculpture itself.

At the moment, in order to protect the work of art, the city authorities placed him behind bulletproof glass.

"Madonna of Doni" Michelangelo

In addition to the fact that Michelangelo was an excellent sculptor, he was also a wonderful artist. Although he did not consider this an achievement, he was not at all proud of his talent.

The images drawn 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 a rarity for the paintings of such a plan. Of course, in the full sense of the word, Michelangelo is a sculptor, not an artist. "Madonna and Child" is, however, just a masterpiece.

So, let's sum up. If we talk about the most famous painting depicting the Virgin Mary, it is a masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci "Madonna and Child". If a person is interested in other kinds of art, then the most vivid and memorable is undoubtedly the work of Michelangelo.