2-999-790 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Madonna and Child with Two Angels, c1500. This “tondo” (circular painting) shows two lily-bearing angels striding toward the Madonna and crowning her as Queen of Heaven. The Madonna raises her hands in adoration of the Infant Christ. Reclining on an embroidered pillow in her lap, the child raises his right hand in a gesture of blessing. The mixed animal, human, and plant forms decorating the architecture behind the figures are called "grotesques" (“grotteschi” in Italian). They were inspired by the similar wall decorations discovered in the 1490s in the grottoes and chambers buried beneath ancient Roman houses.