Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Madonna col Bambino e angelo (Madonna and Child with an Angel)
c.1465
Tempera on panel, 87 x 60 cm
Spedale degli Innocenti, Firenze
An early work by Sandro Botticelli, it is inspired by the famous Madonna with child and two angels by Filippo Lippi, now kept in the Uffizi Galleries. Acquired by the hospital in the mid-nineteenth century, it is one of the most significant pieces in the collection.
The Madonna is depicted in the gesture of welcoming Jesus into her arms, supported by an angel who involves the viewer in the scene with his gaze. Maria is thoughtful, as if she were aware of the fate of the Child who instead seems carefree and busy holding out his hands towards her mother. The scene is engaging and intimate and pushes the observer to realize only at a later time that the perspective point of view of the architecture in the background is slightly lowered than that of the rest of the composition. (Museo degli Innocenti)
Compare:
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Madonna col Bambino e un angelo
c.1465–1467
Musée Fesch, Ajaccio
Lippi, Filippo (1406-1469)
Madonna col Bambino e due angeli
c.1460–1465
Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze