Madonna and Sleeping Child (Madonna of the Veil)

Bergognone (Ambrogio da Fossano)

Download hi-res image TITLE Madonna and Sleeping Child (Madonna of the Veil)
AUTHOR Bergognone (Ambrogio da Fossano)
DATE 1512 - 5
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Tempera on panel
DIMENSIONS cm 60 x 40
INVENTORY 2090
ROOM X
Work on display

Set in a shadowy interior, the Virgin has momentarily ceased praying to cover Jesus with a transparent veil as he sleeps in her lap. The iconography alludes to the Passion and death of Christ and to the shroud that will swathe his body, a theme also echoed by the cherries slipping from his hand, prompting us to meditate on this mystery. The window opens out onto a scene of everyday life on a canal, hinting at the presence of the divine in our daily lives.