The Virgin and Child
Artist: Workshop of Andrea Solario (Italian, active 1495 - 1524)
Original Dimensions: 24" x 18 1/4"
Location: National Gallery of Art, London
About Artwork: (Early 16th century) "The infant Christ embraces the Virgin in a pose that very closely resembles – and is probably based on the design for – that in Raphael’s so-called ‘Mackintosh Madonna’, which is also in the National Gallery’s collection. This picture may have been made in Solario’s workshop, or might be a copy of one of his works. Paintings by Solario himself are of a higher quality, though the landscape background – a broad valley leading to distant snowy mountains, here framed by a square stone opening – is characteristic of his work. On the right, in the wooded part of the countryside, two men greet each other politely as their paths cross; one has been riding, the other walking with his dog. Further down, near the bottom ledge, we see a single white lily, a symbol of the Virgin’s purity." - (National Gallery of Art, London)

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