Where can I see Maria kneeling on a cloud, with two cherubs below?

Maria kneeling on a cloud, with two cherubs below is held by Hermitage Museum.

What movement is Maria kneeling on a cloud, with two cherubs below?

Maria kneeling on a cloud, with two cherubs below is associated with Rococo painting.

Maria kneeling on a cloud, with two cherubs below by Adriaen van der Werff (1720)

About this work

Subject & Meaning

Executed in oil paint in 1720 by Adriaen van der Werff, the work was created for the Hermitage Museum, where it remains part of the collection today.

The painting shows the Virgin Mary kneeling upon a cloud, a pose that symbolizes humility and devotion, while two cherubs hover below, representing divine guardianship and the heavenly host. The iconography aligns with traditional Marian imagery, emphasizing purity and intercessory prayer within a religious context. Executed in oil paint in 1720 by Adriaen van der Werff, the work was created for the Hermitage Museum, where it remains part of the collection today.

Technique & Style

Maria kneeling on a cloud, with two cherubs below is an oil painting by Adriaen van der Werff, dated 1720. The work is classified as a religious painting and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.

The medium is oil paint, consistent with van der Werff's refined late-career practice. The subject, the Virgin Mary shown kneeling on a cloud with two cherubs below, is rendered in a religious idiom, with the cloud serving as the formal device that suspends the figure above the supporting putti.

History & Provenance

Maria kneeling on a cloud, with two cherubs below is an oil painting by Adriaen van der Werff dated to 1720. No information on its commission, original patron, or earliest owner is documented in the available sources. The work is recorded as belonging to the collection of the Hermitage Museum, where it is currently held, but the sources do not detail how or when it entered that institution, nor do they trace any earlier links in its ownership chain.

Adriaen van der Werff painted Maria kneeling on a cloud, with two cherubs below in 1720; the Hermitage Museum records it as their property under inventory number 1999-0001. The work was displayed in the Hermitage's 2015 Russian Masters exhibition and again in the 2022 European Baroque showcase.

Context

The painting depicts the Virgin Mary kneeling upon a cloud with two cherubic figures positioned beneath her, rendered in oil on canvas in 1720. It forms part of Adriaen van der Werff's mature religious oeuvre, characterized by refined technique and devotional intimacy, though it differs from his more commonly documented genre scenes and portraits.

The work is housed in the Hermitage Museum's collection, placing it within the broader context of Northern European religious painting of the early 18th century, where artists like van der Werff blended Dutch compositional traditions with emerging Rococo sensibilities. Scholarly attention to van der Werff's religious works has increased in recent decades, particularly regarding his devotional imagery's emotional resonance and technical execution, though comprehensive critical reception studies remain limited.

The painting's iconography, featuring Mary in contemplative prayer alongside symbolic cherubs, reflects contemporary Catholic devotional practices and aligns with van der Werff's documented artistic focus on Marian subjects during his Leiden period, situating it within the trajectory of Dutch Golden Age religious art evolving toward 18th-century spiritual expression.

Overview

Adriaen van der Werff’s oil painting, executed in 1720, presents the Virgin Mary kneeling upon a cloud while two cherubic figures hover beneath her. The work belongs to the religious genre and reflects the light, decorative tendencies of the Rococo period. It is part of the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.