Virgin and Child with the Young John the Baptist
Virgin and Child with the Young John the Baptist, Sandro Botticelli (Italian, 1444/5 - 1510), and Workshop c. 1490
1970.160
Not on display
As he looks upon the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, the Young John the Baptist has an expression of hope and reverence while Christ possesses a youthful energy as he grasps his mother's neck. The Virgin's expression is one of mystic acceptance, as if she knows the sacrifice her son will later make. This quiet, half-dreaming calm of the Madonna resembles the work of Botticelli in the mid-1480s. The eager movement of the Child and the adoring expression of St. John resemble the same exaggerated gestures of Botticelli's 1490 Annunciation in the San Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi. In 1915, George Edgell argued that while the painting closely resembled Botticelli, it is closer to the work of his pupil, Filippino Lippi. Some art historians accept this panel as a work of Botticelli, as similarities can be seen between this work and Botticelli's Annunciation in the Uffizi. Still, because of its resemblance to autograph Botticellis as well as the work of his follower, Filippino Lippi, Virgin and Child with Young John the Baptist has been attributed to Botticelli and his workshop.
Images Copyright © the artist, their estate, and/or the Cleveland Museum of Art.
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