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Botticelli (1445–1510), Madonna and Child with Two Angels, Capodimonte Museum, Naples
This early painting by Botticelli, painted when he was 23 or 24 years old, is both moving and sad.Botticelli “Madonna and Child with Two Angels”
Painting - Tempera on Wood (100 x 71 cm) 1468-1469The Virgin is seated and receives the Baby Jesus carried by two angels.
Madonna and Child The two angels and the Child gaze intently at the Virgin, their faces turned towards her.
The angel in the foreground holds Jesus in his arms and looks at Mary with a surprised and angry expression as he waits for her to take her Child into her arms.
The Virgin appears indifferent, her eyes lowered beneath her half-closed eyelids, she looks neither at the angels nor at her son.
Jesus reaches out his arms towards his mother, his little feet resting in the palm of Mary’s left hand; he looks at her imploringly as if to say: “I am here, take me in your arms” whilst the angels stare at her as if reproaching her for her lack of enthusiasm.
Madonna and Child The natural joy of motherhood, which should be evident on her beautiful face, is overshadowed by the terrible foreboding of her child’s tragic future, depicted in the top left-hand corner by the tomb where his body will be laid after being crucified.
The Virgin is the central figure of the scene; it is her whom the angels and the Child are looking at, and we follow their gaze.
Botticelli emphasised the gentleness and beauty of the Virgin with the red and blue of her garments, which contrast with the dull colours of the rest of the painting.
Botticelli magnificently conveyed the melancholy and distress of this mother in a scene where joy should prevail.
Artists Palace Gardens | Bellini | Botticelli | Bronzino | Brueghel | Canova | Caravaggio | Gentileschi | Giambologna | Giordano | Greco | Lotto | Luini | Mantegna | Masaccio | Masolino | Michelangelo | Palma | Parmigianino | Porta | Raphael | Reni | Titian | Van Dyck | Warhol
Capodimonte Artists | Schedule Tickets | Location | Authorizations
Museums Borbonica | MANN | Catacombs | Capodimonte | Royal | Jago | Neapolis | Diocesano | Martino | C.Elmo | Zevallos | Floridiana | Filangeri | C.Nuovo | Aquarium | Natural H. | Archivio | Pignatelli | Madre
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