Description
Madonna of the Book is a small devotional painting by Sandro Botticelli from around 1480–1483: in the corner of a room, by a window, the Virgin in a deep blue mantle reads a book of hours while the Christ Child on her lap looks up at her, holding three tiny gold nails and a thin crown of thorns. The original, tempera on panel measuring 58 x 39.5 cm, is in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil on canvas, in 8 upright sizes from 30 x 45 to 140 x 200 cm or made to measure. We send you a photograph of your finished painting before it is dispatched.
| Title: | Madonna of the Book |
| Other titles: | Madonna del Libro (Italian title) · Madonna mit dem Buch (German title) |
| Painter: | Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510) |
| Year painted: | c. 1480–1483 |
| Original size: | 58 cm x 39.5 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Tempera on panel |
| Painting style: | Early Renaissance |
| Located at: | Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan, Italy, acc. no. 443 |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Madonna of the Book – Sandro Botticelli
What does Madonna of the Book show?
The scene is set in the corner of a room. On a wooden table at the left, an open book rests on a white cushion and a red tasselled cloth; behind it stand round wooden boxes, a small gilded casket and a blue-and-white maiolica bowl of cherries, plums and figs. On the right a window opens on a clear blue sky above a line of trees.
Mary sits turned towards the book in a deep blue mantle with a gold-embroidered border and a gold star on the shoulder, over a red dress. A transparent veil lies on her red-gold hair under a pale blue headcloth, and a finely tooled gold halo circles her head.
The Child sits on her lap and gazes up into her face. In his left hand he holds three small gold nails and a thin crown of thorns.
The hands of mother and son mirror each other: both hold the right hand open, as in a blessing, and the left hand closed.
What do the nails, the crown and the fruit mean?
The book is a Book of Hours (Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis), a prayer book for lay people, common from the 13th to the 16th century. Mary is absorbed in it; the Child has eyes only for her.
The nails and the crown of thorns are the conventional symbols of Christ’s Passion. Here they are probably later additions, made to spell the message out.
The fruit carries meaning too: cherries stand for the blood of Christ or allude to Paradise, plums for the tenderness between mother and son, figs for the Resurrection. Mary’s blue mantle signifies purity, heaven and royalty.
Why is this Madonna so loved?
Botticelli painted the scene with a fondness for small details. The boxes and the maiolica bowl form a true still life, and the book’s pages, the garments and the sheer veils feel almost tactile. Gold filigree decorates clothes and objects, as the contract with the commissioner, whose identity is unknown, required.
The museum’s director, Annalisa Zanni, found that the top layer of blue is lapis lazuli, a precious ingredient pointing to a prestigious patron.
The painting shows Botticelli’s mature, poetic style: a delicate, elegant line, still far from the pathos of his late work. You will find the same refined line in the Idealized Portrait of a Lady (Simonetta Vespucci), from the same years. A recent restoration uncovered a luminous sky and a bright morning light beneath centuries-old varnish.
Botticelli may have drawn on Filippo Lippi’s Madonna and Child with an Angel from the Hospital of the Innocents in Florence. The English Wikipedia article, written in English, tells more.
Where can you see the original?
The original, a small panel of 58 x 39.5 cm, hangs in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan, accession number 443.
In the 19th century the painting won renewed interest: its “extraordinary beauty” spoke above all to Italians, who saw in it a source of national identity during the Risorgimento. Among Botticelli’s admirers was Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli, who left his private collection and his apartment to the public; the museum bears his name.
Botticelli, born Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi around 1445, was a Florentine tanner’s son who, Vasari says, trained first as a goldsmith and then under Filippo Lippi. Forgotten after his death in 1510, he was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelites in the late 19th century.
Madonna of the Book or another Botticelli Madonna?
Madonna of the Book is a quiet canvas painting for anyone who wants an intimate scene of mother and child rather than a crowded one. Its upright format suits a bedroom, a reading corner or a hallway.
The book returns in the Madonna of the Magnificat, a round composition in which Mary writes. Round, too, is the Madonna of the Pomegranate, with six angels around mother and child, while the Cestello Annunciation shows the angel Gabriel kneeling before her.
All the famous Botticelli paintings we paint to order are gathered on one page: Sandro Botticelli.
How do we hand-paint Madonna of the Book?
The original in Milan is not an oil painting: Botticelli painted it in tempera on a wooden panel of 58 x 39.5 cm, enriched with gold and lapis lazuli. Our Sandro Botticelli reproduction, by contrast, is built up in oil on canvas, layer by layer, so the canvas can be rolled, put on a stretcher bar or framed.
The painter first draws the window, the table and the outlines of both figures, then lays in the large areas: the dark wall, the sky, the blue mantle and red dress, the white cushion.
Faces, hands and the Child’s body follow in thin, translucent layers; the veil, the gold borders, the halos, the fruit, the nails and the crown come last.
Which size for which wall?
In short: the smallest sizes for a reading corner or a bedside wall, the middle ones above a bed or chest of drawers, the largest for a living room or a stairwell.
We paint Madonna of the Book in 8 upright sizes (width x height): 30 x 45, 40 x 56, 45 x 65, 58 x 85, 75 x 110, 85 x 125, 110 x 155 and 140 x 200 cm. The original measures 39.5 x 58 cm (width x height). The 30 x 45 cm size is smaller, 40 x 56 cm is about the same size, and every size from 45 x 65 cm upwards is larger; 140 x 200 cm is more than three times as tall as the panel in Milan.
Made for private devotion, the scene works best up close: 40 x 56 or 45 x 65 cm in a bedroom or home office, 58 x 85 or 75 x 110 cm above a bed. As a painting for the living room it comes into its own from 85 x 125 cm upwards, when the gold and the fruit read clearly from across the room.
Can I order another size, and which frame suits it?
Yes. For other proportions we keep Mary and the Child whole and adjust the dark wall, the sky in the window or the table edge, so such an oil painting reproduction loses none of its symbols. Send us your custom size for a price and timing.
We deliver it rolled in a tube, stretched on a stretcher bar or ready framed; our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching, framing and packing. You choose the frame moulding in our 3D app; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service. A narrow gilded or dark wooden frame suits the blue and gold.
When will your Madonna of the Book arrive?
Allow 15 to 45 working days from order confirmation until your Madonna of the Book is dispatched. When it is finished we send you a photograph, and any changes you ask for are made before packing.
It travels without customs within Slovenia and to other EU countries, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
A mother and child bent over a book make a lovely christening, wedding or family gift. Not sure about the recipient’s wall? Give a gift voucher and let them choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original on display?
In the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan, accession number 443.
What is the Christ Child holding?
Three small nails and a thin crown of thorns, symbols of the Passion, probably added later.
Is this a print?
No. It is a hand-painted copy, every stroke laid on with a brush by our painter.
How big is the original panel?
58 x 39.5 cm (height x width); our 40 x 56 cm size is about the same.
Do you paint Madonna of the Book in other sizes?
Yes. Tell us the width and height you need, and we will send the price and delivery time.
How long until it ships, and how does it travel?
15 to 45 working days until dispatch; it travels rolled, stretched or framed.
Does it suit a bedroom?
Yes, very well; choose 45 x 65 or 58 x 85 cm to hang above the bed.
What is Mary reading?
A Book of Hours, a prayer book for lay people used from the 13th to the 16th century.
- Subject: Mary reads a Book of Hours while the Child on her lap holds nails and a crown of thorns.
- Original: tempera on panel, c. 1480–1483, 58 x 39.5 cm, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan.
- Ours: hand-painted in oil on canvas in 8 upright sizes, from 30 x 45 to 140 x 200 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: the top layer of blue on Mary’s mantle is precious lapis lazuli.
