Virgin And Child With The Young Saint John The Baptist C 1490

Description

Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist gathers three figures inside a circular painting. Mary wears a blue cloak with warm lining, while Christ reaches around her neck and the young Baptist prays at the left in red. A pale landscape of hills and buildings extends behind them. The intimate gestures give the rounded composition a clear center without closing it off from the distant view.

Made around 1490 in tempera and oil on wood, the painting is credited to Sandro Botticelli and his workshop by the Cleveland Museum of Art. That joint attribution preserves the collaborative context of its creation. The panel’s rounded format makes balance especially important: figures and surrounding space must turn together, allowing a few closely related forms to carry both the devotional subject and the composition’s quiet unity.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Sandro Botticelli collection.