Who painted Virgin and Child with Two Angels?

Virgin and Child with Two Angels was painted by Sandro Botticelli in 1496.

Where can I see Virgin and Child with Two Angels?

Virgin and Child with Two Angels is held by Art Institute of Chicago.

What movement is Virgin and Child with Two Angels?

Virgin and Child with Two Angels is associated with Early Renaissance.

Can I buy a print of Virgin and Child with Two Angels?

Museum-quality prints of Virgin and Child with Two Angels are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Artwork

Virgin and Child with Two Angels

Sandro Botticelli , 1496

Virgin and Child with Two Angels is an unspecified painting by the Early Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli. It dates from 1496 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

The figures stand upon a wooden structure adorned with sculpted bas-reliefs on its sides, while the Virgin rests her feet on a fabric matching the drapery.

The work depicts the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, a central subject in religious art, flanked by two angels. The composition is framed by golden-trimmed curtains held open by the angels, which function as a canopy or dais above the Madonna. This arrangement reveals a distant background featuring a blue sky and verdant hills, creating a pastoral setting behind the sacred figures.

The figures stand upon a wooden structure adorned with sculpted bas-reliefs on its sides, while the Virgin rests her feet on a fabric matching the drapery. Trees in the background silhouette the Virgin's head, emphasizing her central position within this tondo format.

Technique & Style

Executed in tempera on wood, this tondo measures 34.4 centimeters in diameter. The composition features the Virgin and Child flanked by two angels who hold open gilded drapery to form a canopy, revealing a distant landscape with a blue sky and green hills. Trees in silhouette frame the central figure of the Virgin against the background.

The Child and the angels rest their feet on wooden pedestals decorated with carved bas-reliefs on their sides. The Virgin stands upon a platform covered in fabric that matches the texture and appearance of the curtains held by the angels.

History & Provenance

Virgin and Child with Two Angels is a small devotional tondo by the Florentine painter Sandro Botticelli, dated to 1490 in the Art Institute of Chicago's catalogue record. The French-language entry for the work gives a broader dating range of circa 1485–1495, reflecting scholarly uncertainty around the precise moment of execution within Botticelli's late career.

The painting entered the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it is currently held. The sources do not document an earlier ownership chain, a patron, or a specific commission, nor do they record intermediate collectors or dealers preceding the museum's acquisition.

Sandro Botticelli's Virgin and Child with Two Angels is held in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago in the United States. The work is a circular painting, or tondo, with a diameter of 34.4 centimeters. While the exact inventory or accession number is not specified in the provided records, the museum identifies the piece as a tempera on wood created between 1485 and 1495.

The painting depicts the Virgin and Child flanked by two angels who hold open golden-trimmed curtains to reveal a distant landscape. No specific exhibition history or past loan records are detailed in the available sources.

Context

Scholarship identifies the work as a tondo painted by Botticelli around 1490, depicting the Virgin and Child with two angels in a domestic devotional context. The composition features the angels holding gold-trimmed curtains that open to reveal a landscape, while Mary is positioned centrally on a fabric-draped platform. The piece is part of the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it has been studied as an example of Botticelli's late 15th-century religious painting practice.

Critical reception has emphasized the work's role within Botticelli's broader output of sacred imagery, noting its technical execution in tempera on wood and its significance in the study of Renaissance devotional art. Art historians situate it within the Florentine artistic milieu of the 1490s, highlighting its stylistic connections to other works by the master housed in major institutions.

Overview

Virgin and Child with Two Angels is a painting by Sandro Botticelli, created in 1496. It is a religious work depicting the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, and is now held at the Art Institute of Chicago.