Madonna del Prato (Bellini)

Not to be confused with the Madonna del Prato (Raphael).
Madonna of the Meadow
Italian: Madonna del Prato
Artist Giovanni Bellini
Year 1505
Type Oil and tempera on panel
Dimensions 67.3 cm × 86.4 cm (26.5 in × 34.0 in)
Location National Gallery, London

Madonna del Prato (Madonna of the Meadow) is a 1505 painting of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child by Giovanni Bellini, now in the National Gallery in London.[1] Originally painted as oil and egg tempera on wood, it was transferred to canvas in 1949,[2] with damage in places.

It presents a medieval iconography of the Virgin of humility seated before a full and shining rural panorama, with both the devotional aspect and the landscape aspect given equal prominence. Full of small details of everyday life, this landscape contributes to the intimate and familiar tone of the two figures. The vulture in the tree also possibly symbolises death. The figures' poses invite meditation on Jesus's death and passion, recalling Pietà compositions with the dead adult Jesus in his mother's lap.

References

  1. ↑ "Madonna of the Meadow". The National Gallery. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  2. ↑ Dunkerton, Jill; Foister, Susan; Gordon, Dillian; Penny, Nicholas (1991). Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in The National Gallery. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-05082-0.
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