Description
Madonna and Child with an Angel is one of Sandro Botticelli’s earliest works, painted around 1465–1467, while still close to his teacher Filippo Lippi: Mary, in a red dress and a dark cloak, sits beneath a stone arch, a young angel lifts the naked Christ Child towards her, mother and son look at each other, and the angel looks straight out at us. The original, tempera on panel measuring 87 x 60 cm, is in the Museo degli Innocenti in Florence. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil on canvas, in 8 upright sizes from 30 x 45 to 77 x 107 cm or made to measure. Before we pack it, we send you a photograph of your finished painting.
| Title: | Madonna and Child with an Angel |
| Other titles: | Madonna col Bambino e un angelo (Italian title) · Virgin and Child with an Angel |
| Painter: | Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510) |
| Year painted: | c. 1465–1467 |
| Original size: | 87 cm x 60 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Tempera on panel |
| Painting style: | Early Renaissance |
| Located at: | Museo degli Innocenti (Spedale degli Innocenti), Florence, Italy |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Madonna and Child with an Angel – Sandro Botticelli
What does Madonna and Child with an Angel show?
Mary sits at the centre in profile, turned to the right. She wears a red dress, a dark gold-trimmed cloak and a light, transparent veil gathered on her head. Her eyes are lowered to the Child, whom she holds with both hands.
Jesus is naked but for a white cloth around his hips. One hand grips the edge of his mother’s neckline as he looks up at her. His halo differs from the other two: a cross is drawn into it.
From below, a young angel with curly hair, dressed in white and red, holds him up; his wings barely show behind his back. Of the three, only he turns out of the scene to meet our eyes.
Behind them rises an arch on pillars with Composite capitals, opening onto a pale blue sky. Reddish stone fills the upper corners, and at the lower left a decorated cushion lies on Mary’s seat.
What does the scene mean?
The painting does not tell a Gospel episode: it is a devotional image, made for prayer. Botticelli places Mary and the Child not in a historical Bethlehem but in the calm architecture of his own day.
The angel, shown as a young boy, hands the Child to his mother, which gives the scene a tender, almost homely gesture. The arch recalls a church interior, and the blue sky behind their heads frames the gaze between mother and son.
The cross in the halo is the traditional sign by which painters set Jesus apart from other holy figures. Botticelli liked to give Mary and the Child blond, wavy hair and fair skin, drawing on Renaissance ideals of beauty to create a kind of devotional perfection.
Italian sources find the mood quieter than Lippi’s: fewer colours, no landscape, a single angel and a pensive, almost melancholy feeling.
Why is the painting so valued?
It is counted among Botticelli’s first known works. He painted it while still Filippo Lippi’s pupil, modelling it on his teacher’s Virgin and Child with Two Angels in the Uffizi. On a single panel you see how close the young painter was to his master, and where he began to go his own way.
Scholars today give the panel to Botticelli rather than to Lippi himself, and many name it his earliest known work. From roughly the same years comes Madonna della Loggia, also attributed to Botticelli, in which mother and child touch cheek to cheek.
Because Botticelli painted from live infants, the English Wikipedia article (in English) notes that the Child’s foot may be the earliest known depiction of the neurological Babinski reflex.
Where is the original today?
The original is in Florence, in the gallery of the Spedale degli Innocenti (Museo degli Innocenti): tempera on a wooden panel, 87 cm high and 60 cm wide.
Most of Botticelli’s works belong to the 1480s; this Madonna, from around 1465–1467, shows where his path began.
Botticelli was born Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi around 1445 in the Ognissanti quarter of Florence, where he spent almost his whole life. A tanner’s son, he trained first as a goldsmith, according to Vasari, and then as a painter under Lippi. He died on 17 May 1510 and lies buried in the church of Ognissanti. His fame faded after his death until the Pre-Raphaelites rediscovered him in the late 19th century.
This Madonna or another by Botticelli?
Madonna and Child with an Angel is a canvas painting for anyone who wants a quiet devotional image rather than a crowded scene. Its upright format suits a bedroom, a hallway or a calm corner of the home.
Botticelli painted the Virgin and Child throughout his life. A round composition with angels and a book is Madonna of the Magnificat; a small room by a window is the setting of Madonna of the Book; and a pomegranate held by mother and child appears in Madonna of the Pomegranate, also a tondo.
The Sandro Botticelli page gathers the famous Botticelli paintings we paint to order.
How do we hand-paint Madonna and Child with an Angel?
The original is not oil: Botticelli painted it in tempera on a wooden panel of 87 x 60 cm. Your copy is a Sandro Botticelli reproduction in oil on canvas, painted by hand layer upon layer, which lets us send it rolled, on a stretcher bar or in a frame.
The painter first sketches the arch, pillars and figures, then lays in the pale blue sky and the broad colours: Mary’s red dress, the dark cloak, the angel’s white tunic.
Then come skin, curls and faces, above all the angel’s outward gaze. Last of all he adds the gold trim of the cloak, the haloes, the transparent veil and the pattern on the cushion.
Which size for which wall?
In short: small sizes for a hallway or reading corner, middle ones above a bed or chest of drawers, the largest for a tall, empty wall.
We paint Madonna and Child with an Angel in 8 upright sizes (width x height): 30 x 45, 35 x 50, 40 x 56, 45 x 65, 50 x 75, 58 x 85, 65 x 95 and 77 x 107 cm. The original measures 60 x 87 cm (width x height). The sizes from 30 x 45 to 50 x 75 cm are smaller, 58 x 85 cm comes very close, and 65 x 95 and 77 x 107 cm are larger than the panel in Florence.
As a devotional image it suits a bedroom or a quiet corner. As a painting for the living room, choose at least 58 x 85 cm, so the angel’s glance reaches you from the sofa.
Can I have another size, and which frame goes with it?
Yes. For other proportions we keep all three figures and the arch whole and adjust only the sky or the edges, so you still receive a complete oil painting reproduction of the scene. Send us your custom size and we will come back to you with a price and a date for your Madonna.
Your Madonna travels rolled in a tube, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. Our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing and packs it with care. In our 3D app you pick the frame moulding; viewing the painting on your own wall is a separate service. A slim gilded frame suits the red dress and the gold trim.
When will your Madonna arrive?
We have your Madonna ready to ship 15 to 45 working days after you confirm the order. When it is finished we send you a photograph and make any change you ask for before packing.
Within Slovenia and the rest of the EU it travels without customs, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
A Madonna with an angel makes a lovely christening, wedding or Christmas gift. With a wall art voucher the person you are giving it to picks the painting and its size.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original panel?
In the Museo degli Innocenti in Florence, housed in the Spedale degli Innocenti.
Who is the winged boy at the lower right?
He is the angel who hands the Child to Mary, and the only figure looking straight at the viewer.
Is it a print?
No. It is a hand-painted copy: our painter brushes in every fold, every curl and every glance.
How large is the original?
87 x 60 cm (height x width); our 58 x 85 cm size comes very close to it.
Can you paint the Madonna with the angel in a size that is not listed?
Yes. Tell us the width and height and we will send a price and a delivery date.
How long until my Madonna with the angel ships, and how is it packed?
15 to 45 working days until dispatch; it is sent rolled, stretched or framed.
Is it suitable for a bedroom?
Yes. Its calm composition and warm colours suit a bedroom, a hallway or a quiet corner.
Which painting did Botticelli take as his model?
Virgin and Child with Two Angels by his teacher Filippo Lippi, now in the Uffizi in Florence.
- Subject: Mary in a red dress and dark cloak, the naked Christ Child and a young angel looking out at us, beneath a stone arch on pillars.
- Original: tempera on panel, c. 1465–1467, 87 x 60 cm, Museo degli Innocenti, Florence.
- Ours: hand-painted in oil on canvas, 8 sizes from 30 x 45 to 77 x 107 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: it is one of Botticelli’s first known works, modelled on a painting by his teacher Filippo Lippi.
