Artwork
Virgin and Child with an Angel
Virgin and Child with an Angel is an unspecified painting by the Early Renaissance artist Cosimo Rosselli. It dates from 1470 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
According to the catalogue record, the work portrays Mary and the Christ Child, with the title indicating that an angel also accompanies the holy figures.
The painting depicts the Madonna and Child, a devotional subject central to religious art of the period. According to the catalogue record, the work portrays Mary and the Christ Child, with the title indicating that an angel also accompanies the holy figures. This composition reflects the traditional iconography of the Virgin and Child with an Angel, a theme that emphasizes the divine nature of Christ and the protective, celestial witness to the Incarnation.
In Renaissance devotional imagery, the angel's presence typically signifies divine revelation and the heavenly acknowledgment of Mary's role as the Mother of God, while the intimate interaction between Mary and the Christ Child conveys themes of maternal tenderness and humanity united with divinity. The work belongs to the broader category of religious art, presenting these figures as objects of veneration and contemplation.
History & Provenance
Cosimo Rosselli's Virgin and Child with an Angel, created in 1470, is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The painting, which depicts the Madonna and Child in a religious composition, measures 73.0 cm in height and 45.4 cm in width. The source material confirms the artwork's current location and physical dimensions but does not provide a specific inventory or accession number, nor does it detail any exhibition history for the piece.
Overview
Created circa 1470, Virgin and Child with an Angel is an oil painting by the Florentine artist Cosimo Rosselli. Executed during the early Renaissance, the work presents the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, accompanied by a winged angel. The composition reflects the devotional imagery typical of mid‑15th‑century Italy and is now part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s collection.
Technique & Style
Rosselli employs soft chiaroscuro to model the figures, giving the skin a gentle luminosity and the drapery a tactile quality. The background recedes into a muted landscape of trees and a faint sky, providing depth without distracting from the intimate foreground scene. The handling of light and delicate modeling align with the early Renaissance’s move toward naturalism.
Context
The work belongs to a broader tradition of Marian devotion that flourished in 15th‑century Italy, where images of the Virgin and Child were frequently accompanied by angels as intercessors. Rosselli’s treatment reflects the influence of his Florentine peers while retaining a personal softness in the figures’ expressions and the overall composition.
Artist & collection
Artist
Cosimo Rosselli (Italian:; 1439–1507) was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in his birthplace of Florence, but also in Pisa earlier in his career and in 1481–82 in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, where…
