Curatorial Notes
In this humanizing yet idealized depiction of the Virgin Mary embracing the baby Jesus, Sandro Botticelli conveyed the sacred beauty of maternal love. Mary, her expression soft and her skin luminous, nuzzles her son’s chubby cheek as he grasps the nape of her neck. An angel, smaller in scale, looks on adoringly. Highly celebrated in his own lifetime, Botticelli developed a distinctly sentimental and tactile style of painting for both religious and secular subjects.
Artwork Identification
Title Virgin and Child with an Angel
Title (PT) A Virgem e o Menino com um Anjo
Title (ES) La Virgen y el Niño con un Ángel
Artist Sandro Botticelli
Artist Bio Sandro Botticelli (Italian, 1444/45–1510)
Date 1475–85
Work Type Painting
Location & Collection
Institution Art Institute of Chicago
Source View Museum Page
License Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0
