Description
Madonna della Loggia is one of the earliest paintings attributed to Sandro Botticelli, made around 1467: the Virgin, wrapped in a dark blue cloak, rests her cheek tenderly against the cheek of the Christ Child, who flings an arm around her neck, while behind them the arches of a loggia open onto a glimpse of hills. The original, tempera on panel measuring 72 x 50 cm, is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil on canvas, in 7 upright sizes from 30 x 45 to 65 x 92 cm or made to measure. Before the Madonna leaves us, you receive a photograph of the finished canvas.
| Title: | Madonna della Loggia |
| Other titles: | La Vierge de la Loggia (French title) · Madona della Loggia (Slovene title) |
| Painter: | Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510) |
| Year painted: | c. 1467 |
| Original size: | 72 cm x 50 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Tempera on panel |
| Painting style: | Early Renaissance |
| Located at: | Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil on canvas, 7 sizes or made to measure |
Madonna della Loggia – Sandro Botticelli
What does Madonna della Loggia show?
Mary sits in the half-shadow of an open loggia and holds her son so close that their cheeks touch. She bows her head towards him, eyelids half lowered, as if lost in thought. A transparent veil falls over her hair, and a fine gold halo is just visible around her head.
Jesus stands on his mother’s knee and leans into her with all his weight. One arm goes around her neck, the other hand grips her shoulder. He wears a pale pink shirt with orange lights that falls in soft folds to his knees; above his head shines a large, bright halo.
Mary’s cloak, an almost black blue, fills the whole right half of the picture, with the red dress showing at her wrist and neck. Both her hands hold the child round the waist.
Behind the figures rises the loggia in browns and creams: a slender column with a carved capital, arches and a stone cornice on the right. Through the opening at the top left you see green hills and a road which, the English article suggests, leads towards a town.
What does the tender embrace of mother and child mean?
Botticelli uses a type of image with Byzantine roots called the Glykophilousa, meaning “sweet kissing”. Mother and child touch cheek to cheek, and the child embraces Mary as if to show her his affection. The type dates from the 8th and 9th centuries and returned to favour in Renaissance Florence.
For all its tenderness, the mood is not cheerful. The faces are serious, pensive and touched with melancholy, a tone that descriptions of the panel call typical of Botticelli. The mother presses the child to her, yet her eyes stay lowered.
Why is the painting so well known?
Madonna della Loggia is among Botticelli’s first images of the Virgin and Child. It was painted as the young artist was leaving the workshop of his master Filippo Lippi, and it shows: the strong outline, the lively folds and the layout of the scene come from Lippi, while the forms are already softer and the poses more complex.
Scholars see the start of his own style here: the vivid, bronze-toned colour is traced to Antonio del Pollaiolo, and the historian Ronald Lightbown saw in the child’s face a first echo of Andrea del Verrocchio, under whom Botticelli worked in the late 1460s.
Botticelli painted loggias in several early Madonnas, each one a little different. How close he still stood to Lippi also shows in Madonna and Child with an Angel, from the same years and now in the Museo degli Innocenti in Florence.
Where is the original today?
The original hangs in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, given to the museum in 1784 by the Chamber of Commerce and Arts.
The panel did not survive in good condition. The brownish tone of many later retouchings long cast doubt on Botticelli as its painter. A conservation treatment in 2004 brought back details that had been lost. The English Wikipedia article, in English, covers its condition and restoration.
Sandro Botticelli, born Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi around 1445, was the son of a Florentine tanner and spent his whole life in the Ognissanti quarter, where he is buried. He died in 1510; centuries later the Pre-Raphaelites made him famous again.
Madonna della Loggia or another Botticelli Madonna?
Madonna della Loggia is a canvas painting for those who prefer a quiet, intimate image to a crowded scene. The modest upright format suits a bedroom, a child’s room or a calm corner of the home.
Prefer Mary reading? See Madonna of the Book, where mother and child sit by a window. A round composition in which Mary writes in a book is Madonna of the Magnificat, and a large altarpiece with the Virgin enthroned between the two Saints John is The Bardi Madonna.
More famous Botticelli paintings, from the mythologies to the portraits, are on our Sandro Botticelli page.
How do we hand-paint Madonna della Loggia?
Botticelli’s original is not oil on canvas but tempera on a wooden panel, 72 cm high and 50 cm wide. Our version is a Sandro Botticelli reproduction built up in oil on canvas, in several layers, which means it can be sent rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or ready framed.
The painter first draws the outlines of the two figures and the architecture, then lays in the dark areas of the loggia and the cloak. Next come the landscape, the pink shirt with its folds and the red dress showing beneath the blue.
The faces and hands take the longest: the meeting of the cheeks, Mary’s lowered eyelids, the small arm around her neck. Last come the transparent veil and the fine gold halos.
Which size works on which wall?
In short: small sizes above a bedside table or in a child’s room, middle ones above a bed or chest of drawers, the two largest for an empty wall in a living room or hallway.
We paint Madonna della Loggia in 7 upright sizes (width x height): 30 x 45, 35 x 50, 40 x 55, 45 x 65, 50 x 75, 59 x 81 and 65 x 92 cm. The original measures 50 x 72 cm (width x height). Sizes from 30 x 45 to 45 x 65 cm are smaller, 50 x 75 cm is about the same size, and 59 x 81 and 65 x 92 cm are larger than the panel in the Uffizi.
At 30 x 45 or 35 x 50 cm it fits on a shelf or a narrow wall beside a door. As a painting for the living room it works best at 59 x 81 or 65 x 92 cm, where the tenderness of both faces reads from across the room.
Can I order another size, and which frame suits it?
Yes. For other proportions both figures stay whole and we adjust only the loggia or the landscape, so it remains a complete oil painting reproduction of the embrace. Send us the size you need, and we will price the Madonna for it and give you a date.
It travels rolled in a tube, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. Our workshop in Slovenia stretches and frames the canvas and packs it with care.
In our 3D app you pick the frame moulding; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service. A narrow gilded or dark wooden frame suits the deep cloak and the gold halos.
When will your Madonna della Loggia arrive?
Allow 15 to 45 working days between your order confirmation and dispatch. When the painting is finished we send you a photograph of it, and if you would like anything changed, we do it before packing.
Your Madonna della Loggia travels without customs within Slovenia and the rest of the EU, and our returns policy applies to every order.
A tender Madonna and Child makes a fine gift for a christening or for new parents. Not sure which size would suit? A wall art voucher lets them choose this Madonna, or another painting, in the size they want.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original Madonna della Loggia?
In the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which received it as a gift in 1784.
What is a loggia?
An open, roofed hall or porch with columns and arches that is part of a building and faces the outdoors.
Is it a print?
No. It is a hand-painted copy: every brushstroke is laid by our painter.
How big is the original panel?
72 x 50 cm (height x width); our 50 x 75 cm size is about the same.
Can you paint the Madonna della Loggia in a size that is not listed?
Yes. Tell us the width and height you want and we will send a price and a date.
How long until it ships, and how is it packed?
Your Madonna is ready to ship 15 to 45 working days after you order, and it comes rolled, stretched or framed.
Will it suit a bedroom or a child’s room?
Yes. The calm image of a mother hugging her child sits well in either room.
Is the painting really by Botticelli?
It is attributed to him and counted among his earliest works, although the attribution was long debated.
- Subject: the Virgin in a dark blue cloak rests her cheek against the Child, who holds her round the neck; behind them a loggia and hills.
- Original: tempera on panel, c. 1467, 72 x 50 cm, Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
- Ours: hand-painted in oil on canvas, 7 sizes from 30 x 45 to 65 x 92 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: in 2019 the panel was shown in Vladivostok and at the Hermitage in St Petersburg.
