Madonna del Prato (Bellini)

Not to be confused with the Madonna del Prato (Raphael).
Madonna of the Meadow
Italian: Madonna del Prato
ArtistGiovanni Bellini
Year1505
TypeOil and tempera on panel
Dimensions67.3 cm × 86.4 cm (26.5 in × 34.0 in)
LocationNational Gallery, London

Madonna del Prato (Madonna of the Meadow) is a 1505 painting of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child by the Italian Renaissance painter 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 raven in the tree 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.