Madonna (art)

The Golden Madonna of Essen (c. 980)

Madonna (it. Madonna , “Virgin Mary”) is a traditional image of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus (less commonly without it) for Italian and generally Western European art. Often these two are accompanied by John the Baptist , St. Anna, or other saints.

The earliest depiction of Mary with the baby Christ is found in the Roman catacombs of Priscilla . Similar iconography was also common in pre-Christian times (for example, women with a baby in their arms liked to depict sculptors from Tanagra ).

When creating Madonnas, the artists of medieval Italy for a long time followed Byzantine models - icons depicting the Virgin . The end of the 10th century dates from the first sculptural image of the Madonna, made in the north of Europe, - “The Golden Madonna from Essen ”. With the beginning of the Crusades in southern Europe, the black-faced Madonnas became widespread. In the Renaissance , easel images of the Madonna and Child were in great demand, before which wealthy people liked to pray. Large cycles of “Madonnas” were created by Giovanni Bellini , Mantegna , Perugino and Raphael with their many students and apprentices (see the Madonna of Raphael ).

The images of Mary, Jesus, and Joseph are called the Holy Family . The depiction of the mourning of Christ by the virgin Mary is called the " pieta ." For more information on the types of "Madonnas" see the Catholic iconography of the Virgin .