Where can I see The Virgin and Child?

The Virgin and Child is held by Statens Museum for Kunst.

What movement is The Virgin and Child?

The Virgin and Child is associated with Mannerism.

Artwork

The Virgin and Child

The Virgin and Child is an unspecified painting by the Mannerist artist Marcello Venusti. It dates from 1553 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

Created in 1553 by Marcello Venusti, this religious painting portrays the Madonna and Child as its central subject.

Created in 1553 by Marcello Venusti, this religious painting portrays the Madonna and Child as its central subject. The iconography specifically depicts the Virgin Mary breastfeeding the Christ Child, a motif emphasizing the humanity of Jesus and the intimate maternal bond between mother and son. As a work of religious art, the image serves as a devotional representation of the Incarnation, focusing on the nurturing aspect of Mary's role within Christian theology.

History & Provenance

The work titled The Virgin and Child was painted by Marcello Venusti in 1553. It depicts the Madonna holding the Christ Child in a moment of nursing, a common devotional subject of the period. The painting is held by the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, where it is part of the collection.

No specific inventory or accession number is provided in the available sources, and the records contain no documented commission, prior ownership, or exhibition history for the work.

Overview

Marcello Venusti's The Virgin and Child, completed in 1553, is a characteristic example of mid-16th century Mannerist painting. This work portrays the Madonna tenderly breastfeeding the infant Christ, a common and revered subject in religious art of the era. Venusti, an Italian artist active in Rome, created this piece, which is now part of the collection at the Statens Museum for Kunst.

Context

Marcello Venusti, a painter from the region near Como, established himself within the Roman Mannerist movement during the mid-16th century. He is reputedly a student of Perino del Vaga, a prominent artist of the time. Venusti's oeuvre includes not only original religious compositions but also notable copies, such as his scaled oil rendition of Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.