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The Virgin and Child
c. 1515-25
48.3 x 36.8 cm
egg tempera on wood
In this gentle depiction of the Virgin Mary and Child, Mary tenderly supports her son as he stands on a carpet in the foreground and wreaths of roses are strung behind her.
Roses have a long and close association with Mary: red roses represented Christ and Mary's suffering, white her purity. She was known as 'the rose without thorn'. The rose was associated with love, and Mary's love was thought to represent absolute perfection.
The looping of the garlands of roses in the painting may have been intended to reflect the rosary, the devotional beads which are often made of rose wood.
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