BOTTICELLI, Sandro
(b. 1445, Firenze, d. 1510, Firenze)

Madonna and Child and Two Angels

c. 1470
Tempera on panel, 100 x 71 cm
Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples

Two angels are lifting the child up to the Madonna, who is lost in thought. Almost casually, she gently holds her child's feet, and he is looking at his mother in just as solemn and spellbound a manner as the two angels. Behind the group, which is composed to form a powerful, elegant linear design, is the corner of a wall, an allusion to the Hortus Conclusus, the enclosed garden which is a symbol of Marys virginity.