Giovanni Bellini, 'Madonna of the Meadow', about 1500-5

Madonna of the Meadow

Giovanni Bellini

Not on display

About the work

Overview

The Virgin Mary adores the Christ Child sleeping on her lap. Giovanni Bellini was one of the first Italian painters to use natural settings to enhance the meaning of his pictures. Here, the still Virgin contrasts with the landscape, where the varying shapes of the clouds, from thin and wispy to fat and fluffy, and the shadows on them give the impression of changeable weather. The clarity of the light, which casts a pale glow on everything it touches, from the Virgin’s right sleeve to the walls of the castle in the distance, suggests it is springtime.

Christ’s pose would have reminded contemporary viewers of a type of picture known as the Lamentation, or pietà, which showed Christ after his death lying across his mother’s knees. And yet the carefully observed landscape evokes hopefulness: spring is a time of renewal in nature and of Easter, the moment of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

In-depth

The Virgin Mary, seated on the ground in a grassy meadow, adores the sleeping Christ Child on her lap. The oval shape made by her hands as she gently presses her fingertips together in prayer echoes the shape of her face and hairline; the angle of her head as she looks down mirrors the curve of her right hand. This subtle tilt to the right is the only thing that disrupts the symmetry of the triangular shape of her body. This imposing shape, made bolder through the startling blue of her robe, creates a sense of serenity and calm; the Virgin’s body is an anchor in the scene.

Giovanni Bellini was one of the first Italian painters to use natural settings to enhance the meaning of his pictures. Here, the still and silent Virgin contrasts with the landscape to create an image rich in meaning. The varying shapes of the clouds, from thin and wispy to fat and fluffy, and the shadows on them give the impression of changeable weather. The oxen in the smallholding behind are rubbing their heads together; the herder, with his arm behind his back, is pacing the land. To the Virgin’s left, a snake menaces a crane which raises its wings in fright. This detail has been traced to the famous pastoral odes written by the Roman poet, Virgil – a literary allusion incorporated for an educated clientele – and is perhaps a reference to good versus evil (symbolised by the snake). The delicate poplars clothed in miniature lime-green foliage seem to bend in the breeze. Bellini may have been inspired by altarpieces in Venice painted by northern European artists like Jan van Eyck and Dirk Bouts, who had made careful studies of the way light affects how objects – and the natural world – appear. The clarity of the light, which casts a pale glow on everything it touches, from the Virgin’s right sleeve to the walls of the castle in the distance, suggests it is springtime.

Spring has not yet come to the tree with naked branches where a vulture, a foreboding symbol of death, is perched. The pose of the infant Christ, eyes closed and limbs stretched out, would have reminded contemporary viewers of a type of picture known as the Lamentation, or pietà, which showed Christ after his death lying across his mother’s knees. And yet the carefully observed landscape in our picture evokes hopefulness: spring is a time of renewal in nature and of Easter, the moment of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

We don't know who the picture was made for, but there was strong demand in this period for religious pictures that would provoke an intense emotional and spiritual reaction. Bellini achieves this through a landscape setting which is intended to intensify the viewer’s personal engagement with the holy figures: they are present within a recognisable space and therefore seem more immediate.

Key facts

Details

Full title: Madonna of the Meadow
Artist: Giovanni Bellini
Artist dates: about 1435 - 1516
Date made: about 1500-5
Medium and support: oil, originally on wood, transferred to board
Dimensions: 66.5 × 85.1 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1858
Inventory number: NG599
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 16th-century Italian Frame

Provenance

Purchased from Achille Farina, Faenza, 1858.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2011

Art for the Nation: Sir Charles Eastlake at the National Gallery

The National Gallery (London)

27 July 2011 - 30 October 2011
2012

Titian's First Masterpiece: The Flight Into Egypt

The National Gallery (London)

4 April 2012 - 19 August 2012
2018

Mantegna and Bellini

The National Gallery (London)

1 October 2018 - 27 January 2019
2018

Mantegna and Bellini: Masters of the Renaissance

Gemäldegalerie (Berlin)

1 March 2019 - 30 June 2019

Bibliography

1859

R.N. Wornum, Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery with Biographical Notices of the Painters: Foreign Schools, 29th edn, London 1859
1859

London, National Gallery Archive, dossier for NG 599: Report of the Director of the National Gallery…4 April 1859, 4 April 1859
1867

A.A. Lavice, Revue des musées d'Angleterre, Paris 1867
1871

J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in North Italy: Venice, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Ferrara, Milan, Friuli, Brescia, from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century, 2 vols, London 1871
1878

H. Blackburn, Illustrated Catalogue to the National Gallery: Foreign Schools, London 1878
1879

G. Frizzoni, 'L'arte italiana nella Galleria Nazionale di Londra', Archivio storico italiano, IV/113, 1879, pp. 246-81
1883

J.P. Richter, Italian Art in the National Gallery, London 1883
1887

F. Kugler, Handbook of Painting: The Italian Schools, eds C.L. Eastlake and A.H. Layard, 5th edn, London 1887
1887

M.-F. Reiset, Une visite à la Galerie nationale de Londres, 2nd revised edn, Rapilly 1887
1887

W. Armstrong, 'Notes on the National Gallery', The Guardian, 1887
1888

E.T. Cook, A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery Including, by Special Permission, Notes Collected from the Works of Mr. Ruskin, London 1888
1891

G. Frizzoni, 'L'arte italiana nella Galleria Nazionale di Londra', in Arte Italiana del Rinascimento, Milan 1891
1895

C. Monkhouse, In the National Gallery, London 1895
1895

C.E. Smith, Journals and Correspondence of Lady Eastlake, London 1895
1898

National Gallery, Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery, with Biographical Notes of the Painters: Foreign Schools, 78th edn, London 1898
1901

A. Venturi, Storia dell'arte italiana, 11 vols, Milan 1901
1901

E. Jacobsen, 'Italienische Gemälde in der National Galerie zu London: Kritische Notizen zum Katalog von 1898', Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, XXIV, 1901
1906

Half Holidays at the National Gallery, 5th edn, London 1906
1913

National Gallery, Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the British and Foreign Pictures, 81st edn, London 1913
1914

G. Cantalamessa, 'La Madonna de Giovanni Bellini nella Galleria Borghese', Bollettino d'arte, VIII, 1914
1923

R. van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, 19 vols, The Hague 1923
1923

National Gallery, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square: Illustrations to the Catalogue, vol. 1, Italian Schools, London 1923
1928

G. Gronau, Spätwerke des Giovanni Bellini, Strasbourg 1928
1928

G. Gronau, 'Le opere tarde di Giovanni Bellini', Pinacotheca, 1928, pp. 57-70, 115-31, 171-7
1929

National Gallery, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square: Catalogue, 86th edn, London 1929
1930

G. Gronau, Giovanni Bellini, Stuttgart 1930
1932

B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works, with an Index of Places, Oxford 1932
1935

L. Düssler, Giovanni Bellini, Frankfurt 1935
1937

C. Gamba, Giovanni Bellini, Milan 1937
1938

R. Wittkower, 'Eagle and Serpent, a Study in the Migration of Symbols', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, II, 1938, pp. 293‑325
1943

V. Moschini, Giambellino, Rome 1943
1949

K. Clark, Landscape into Art, New York 1949
1949

L. Düssler, Giovanni Bellini, Vienna 1949
1950

E. Wind, 'The Eloquence of Symbols', The Burlington Magazine, XCII/573, 1950, pp. 349-50
1951

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
1957

B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works, with an Index of Places: Venetian School, 2 vols, London 1957
1959

R. Pallucchini, Giovanni Bellini, Milan 1959
1961

M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
1962

F. Heinemann, Giovanni Bellini e i Belliniani, 3 vols, Venice 1962
1963

S. Bottari, Tutta la pittura di Giovanni Bellini, Milan 1963
1966

A.R. Turner, The Vision of Landscape in Renaissance Italy, Princeton 1966
1966

M. Meiss, 'Sleep in Venice: Ancient Myths and Renaissance Proclivities', Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, CX/5, 1966, pp. 348-82
1968

G. Robertson, Giovanni Bellini, Oxford 1968
1969

T. Pignatti, L'opera completa di Giovanni Bellini, Milan 1969
1969

H. Ruhemann and J. Plesters, The Cleaning of Paintings, London 1969
1969

D. Cast, 'The Stork and the Serpent, a New Interpretation of the Madonna of the Meadow by Bellini', Art Quarterly, XXXII, 1969, pp. 247-57
1972

N. Huse, Studien zu Giovanni Bellini, Berlin 1972
1972

C. Gould, The Draped Figure, London 1972
1974

Virgil, Virgil, vol. 1, Georgics, trans. H.R. Fairclough, Cambridge MA 1974
1977

J. Mills and R. White, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, I, 1977, pp. 57-9
1978

D. Robertson, Sir Charles Eastlake and the Victorian Art World, Princeton 1978
1986

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
1989

R. Goffen, Giovanni Bellini, New Haven 1989
1991

J. Dunkerton et al., Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, New Haven 1991
1992

A. Tempestini, Giovanni Bellini. Catalogo completo dei dipinti, Florence 1992
1993

C. Wood, Albrecht Altdorfer and the Origins of Landscape, London 1993
1993

A. Steinberg, 'Blurred Boundaries, Opulent Nature, and Sensuous Flesh: Changing Technological Styles in Venetian Painting, 1480-1520', Studies in the History of Art, XLV, 1993, pp. 198-220
1994

A.F. Janson, 'The Meaning of Landscape in Bellini's St Francis in Ecstasy', Artibus et historiae, XV/30, 1994, pp. 41‑54
1995

P. Humfrey, Painting in Renaissance Venice, New Haven 1995
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2004

S. Miscellaneo, L'archivio della confraternita e ospedale di S. Maria del Prato (1320-1808): Per una storia dell'assistenza a Feltre attraverso i documenti delle confraternite, Rasai di Seren del Grappa 2004

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images

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(Showing 6 of 14 works)

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Saint Jerome reading in a Landscape

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An elderly man, barefoot and with an impressive grey beard, is perched on a rock, engrossed in a book. This is Saint Jerome, translator of the Bible into Latin. His only companion is an endearing lion which lies peaceably in the corner – he had tamed it by removing a thorn from its paw.Bellini pa...

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The Agony in the Garden

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Christ’s disciple Judas – visible just beyond the river, leading a group of soldiers to Christ – has betrayed him. Aware of his imminent arrest and death, Christ prays; a cherub appears and presents him with a chalice. The chalice refers to the words of his prayer: ‘My Father, if it be possible,...

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The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr

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This scene tells the story of the murder of Saint Peter Martyr, a friar of the Dominican Order who was killed by members of the Cathars, a heretical sect whose teachings he had spoken against publicly. The saint is shown on the left – he has collapsed to his knees, an axe lodged in his skull. His...

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The Blood of the Redeemer

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Christ is shown resurrected after dying at the Crucifixion, his triumph over death reinforced by the way he cradles the Cross on which he was crucified. His body is weak and pale – we can see his ribcage, and his cheekbones stick out of his gaunt face. The focus of the image is the wound in Chris...

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The Dead Christ supported by Two Angels

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This type of image of Christ after his death – close up, showing his naked torso – originated in Byzantium (the Eastern Christian empire) but was very popular in Italy from about the thirteenth century. It was supposed to promote meditation upon Christ’s suffering and death.Christ is supported by...

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The Virgin and Child

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During the 1470s and 1480s Bellini produced a series of small-scale images of the Virgin and Child, destined for the homes of his Venetian patrons who used them as aids to private prayer.The naked Christ lies on a marble parapet, probably intended to recall his dead body in the tomb – a reminder...

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The Virgin and Child

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Small-scale images of the Virgin and Child made for private worship were a speciality of Bellini’s. This picture was thought to be by the artist’s assistants, but recent technical analysis showed that it was made by Bellini. The holy figures are separated from a landscape by a cloth of honour, an...

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The Adoration of the Kings

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In order to meet the huge demand for his paintings, Giovanni Bellini had a large workshop of assistants who produced works in his style, under his supervision – like this one, which shows the Three Kings worshipping the infant Christ. According to the Gospel of Matthew they followed a star – we c...

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The Circumcision

Workshop of Giovanni Bellini

According to the Gospel of Luke, Christ was circumcised, like all Jewish baby boys, when he was eight days old (Luke 2: 21). He is shown naked, sitting on a cushion upon a table or altar, clenching his little fists as a priest performs the ritual. His mother, the Virgin Mary, gently props him up;...

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The Virgin and Child

Workshop of Giovanni Bellini

Demand for Bellini’s small-scale images of the Virgin and Child was so high that he had a large workshop of assistants who worked under his supervision, producing paintings in his style.Here Christ is dressed in a white tunic, a gold cloth draped around his chubby body, and is propped up against...

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The Virgin and Child

Workshop of Giovanni Bellini

Small-scale images of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child made for private worship were one of Bellini’s specialities, and there was intense demand for them. Bellini had a large workshop of assistants who worked under his supervision, producing paintings in his style. This is one of those works, whi...

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