Artwork
Madonna and Child, St John the Baptist as a Boy and Angels in a Woodland Landscape
Madonna and Child, St John the Baptist as a Boy and Angels in a Woodland Landscape is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Frans Wouters. It is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a religious scene featuring the Madonna and Child alongside the youthful St John the Baptist and angels set within a woodland landscape.
The painting depicts a religious scene featuring the Madonna and Child alongside the youthful St John the Baptist and angels set within a woodland landscape. As a work of religious art, the composition integrates sacred figures into a naturalistic environment, blending devotional imagery with landscape painting traditions. The inclusion of St John the Baptist as a boy alongside the Virgin and Child highlights the narrative of their early lives and spiritual connection.
The presence of angels further emphasizes the divine nature of the gathering, while the woodland setting provides a serene, contemplative backdrop for the holy figures. This combination of genre elements reflects the Baroque tendency to merge spiritual themes with vivid natural settings.
Technique & Style
This painting is executed in oil paint on an oakwood panel support. The work measures 55.5 cm in height and 79.5 cm in width. Stylistically, the piece integrates religious subject matter with a landscape setting, depicting the Madonna and Child alongside the young St. John the Baptist and angels within a woodland environment.
The composition reflects a synthesis of genres, combining devotional iconography with naturalistic background elements typical of the period.
History & Provenance
The painting is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. According to Wikidata, it is catalogued there as an oil-on-oakwood panel measuring 55.5 cm in height by 79.5 cm in width, with an inception date of 1700.
No specific inventory or accession number, and no exhibition history, is recorded in the available sources.
Overview
Created in 1700, this oil painting by Flemish artist Frans Wouters presents a religious tableau set within a verdant woodland. The composition features a seated Virgin in a blue garment holding the infant Christ, accompanied by a youthful Saint John the Baptist and a group of playful, unclothed children, all rendered against a softly clouded sky.
Artist & collection
Artist
Frans Wouters (1612–1659) was a Flemish Baroque painter who translated the monumental Baroque style of Peter Paul Rubens into the small context of cabinet paintings.
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