Italian, Florentine, 'The Virgin and Child', probably about 1450-75

The Christ Child sits on the lap of his mother, the Virgin Mary, and looks directly at us. He holds a little bird in his left hand. In many religious paintings Christ is shown with a goldfinch, a symbol of the Passion, but the bird here is missing the typical red plumage around the beak. But it may still symbolise the Passion, which would explain the sorrowful gaze with which the Virgin looks down at her son: she seems to anticipate his sacrifice.

While the Virgin wears several layers of veils and garments, beautifully ornamented with pearls and precious stones, Christ is wrapped in a simple white cloth, leaving most of his body exposed. The wall that could provide protection is crumbling, but a young tree sprouting in the background suggests salvation to come. A walled city by the riverside leads the eye into a distant landscape.

The meticulous attention to detail in the depiction of the stone wall recalls the work of Fra Diamante (about 1430 – about 1498), one of the most gifted pupils of the Florentine painter Fra Filippo Lippi. Both were Carmelite friars. Fra Diamante assisted Lippi in the execution of the fresco cycles in the cathedrals of Prato and Spoleto, and took care of Lippi’s illegitimate son, Filippino, who would also become a celebrated painter. Fra Diamante’s most important independent work is an altarpiece which shows the Nativity against a similarly ruinous wall (Louvre, Paris).

It is with small devotional paintings like this one that an artist like Fra Diamante would have earned his living, especially since his teacher had already built a strong reputation with paintings of the Virgin and Child. Lippi’s intimate portrayals of the relationship between mother and son were in high demand within the highest ranks of Florentine society, and famous examples showing the Virgin and Child seated against a landscape background can be found in the Uffizi, Florence and the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Such paintings are likely to have decorated a bed chamber, where they offered a visual aid for prayer. It is said that our picture came from a family from Prato who lived in Florence.

If this work is by Fra Diamante, it’s unlikely that he painted the cityscape in the background; he could have relied on the help of workshop assistants while he concentrated on the most important parts: the Virgin and Christ Child. The blue and red roofs and the comma-like windows of the buildings reappear in a painting that is probably contemporary to this one: the Adoration of the Kings by Sandro Botticelli and Filippino Lippi. Although there is no documentation of this, both landscapes may have been done by the same artist. Fra Diamante, Botticelli and Filippino were all members of Fra Filippo Lippi’s workshop, where minor artists may have specialised on landscapes.

There are several versions of this painting by different artists, which suggests that workshop assistants replicated what may have been a very successful design.