How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Buy a print or image licence
You can purchase this reproduction
If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
The Virgin sits in majesty on a carved wooden throne with the Christ Child on her lap. She draws his attention to a passage in the book on her knee. A string of coral beads ending in jewelled crosses like a rosary is suspended from the throne, a reminder of the blood Christ will shed at the Crucifixion. The Latin inscription, ‘SALVE MATER CHRISTI’ (‘Hail Mother of Christ’), would have acted as a prompt to the recitation of the rosary. John the Baptist points to the infant Christ and gazes at his own cross, in foreknowledge of Christ’s future death. Saint Nicholas concentrates on his book.
Raphael carefully calculated the geometry of the composition, using an incised grid to divide it horizontally and vertically into harmonious thirds before he began painting.
Title
The Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Nicholas of Bari (The Ansidei Madonna)
Date
1505
Medium
Oil on poplar
Measurements
H 216.8 x W 147.6 cm
Accession number
NG1171
Acquisition method
Bought, 1885
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
-
Sheet of Studies – Drapery with a Bare Arm and a Separate Study of a Foot and Drapery The Fitzwilliam Museum -
A Battle of Nude Youths The Fitzwilliam Museum -
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas The Fitzwilliam Museum -
Studies for a Scene of Fighting Youths The Fitzwilliam Museum -
Saint Anthony of Padua Dulwich Picture Gallery -
Sketch of a Coat of Arms with an Animal Tied to a Column as Charge The Fitzwilliam Museum -
Virgin and Child in a Tondo The Fitzwilliam Museum - 128 more
