Madonna and Child with Angels

After a model by Antonio Rossellino Italian

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 500

The Virgin Mary is shown presenting her infant son, Jesus, to the viewer. The holy child sits erect on her lap, his dignified posture expresses his divinity.

After this relief had been molded in stucco (a form of plaster), it was sent to another artist’s workshop to be painted. The collaboration between sculptor and painter creates lifelike effects: Christ’s plump cheeks project into space and are flushed like those of a real child. However, the sparkle of gold - on the throne, in Mary’s hair, and the angels’ wings - underscores the scene’s heavenly nature.

Madonna and Child with Angels, After a model by Antonio Rossellino (Italian, Settignano 1427–ca. 1479 Florence), Painted and gilt stucco; wood frame (not original to relief), Italian, Florence

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