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The Virgin Mary kneels, her hands clasped in prayer. Her downward gaze meets that of her infant son, Christ, who is lying on the edge of her blue cloak, leaning against a bundle of straw. Saint John the Baptist, Christ’s cousin, looks down at him from behind. The scroll he holds bears a Latin inscription that anticipates the words he will say before baptising Christ in the River Jordan (‘Behold the Lamb of God’), which may explain the prominent landscape setting. Circular paintings like this one were known as tondi (from the Italian for ‘round’). They were much sought after in fifteenth-century Florence, and the workshop of Sandro Botticelli specialised in their production, as three further examples in the National Gallery’s collection demonstrate.
Title
The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist
Date
probably about 1482-98
Medium
Tempera and oil on wood
Measurements
H 95.3 x W 94 cm
Accession number
NG2497
Acquisition method
Salting Bequest, 1910
Work type
Painting
