The ''Virgin and Child'' is an
oil painting created by the
Italian artist
Elisabetta Sirani in 1663; she died two years later at the age of 27.
The painting is owned by the
National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openin ...
in
Washington, D.C. Its dimensions are .
Description
The painting features
Mary holding the
Christ Child
The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12.
The four canonical gospels, a ...
on her lap. The two figures form a pyramidal composition and are strongly lit against a dark background. Mary is wearing a scarf on her head. Her garment comes in blue, red and white – colors traditionally associated with Mary. The naked Christ Child sits on a pink pillow crowning Mary with a garland of white and red roses.
The Virgin's left hand is embraced by a gold tassel.
Legacy
Sirani's painting is now exhibited at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. It was donated by Wallace and
Wilhelmina Holladay, the founders of the museum, and a grant for its conservation was given by the Southern California State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It was also selected for the
United States Postal Service's Christmas holiday stamp series in October 1994, making it the first work by a woman to be featured in the series. More than a billion copies of these stamps were produced in the 1990s,
and it became one of the best-selling 29-cent stamps.
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Virgin And Child (Sirani)
1663 paintings
Paintings in Washington, D.C.
Paintings of the Madonna and Child
category:17th-century allegorical paintings
category:Allegorical paintings by Italian artists