Artwork
Virgin with child and bunch of grapes
Virgin with child and bunch of grapes is an oil painting. It dates from 1549 and is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child, representing the traditional Madonna and Child subject within religious art.
The painting depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child, representing the traditional Madonna and Child subject within religious art. The work is characterized by a specific iconographic element: a bunch of grapes held by or associated with the figures. In Christian symbolism, grapes frequently allude to the Eucharist and the blood of Christ, foreshadowing the Passion.
This imagery connects the infant Jesus to his future sacrifice, adding a layer of theological meaning to the intimate maternal scene. Created in 1549, the piece combines the tender portrayal of the mother and child with these deeper symbolic references to redemption.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on a lime wood panel, a support and medium combination typical of mid-sixteenth-century Central European devotional painting. The panel measures 49.1 cm in height by 37.3 cm in width, giving it a modest, intimate scale suited to private devotion. Stylistically, it is associated with the manner of Lucas Cranach the Elder, reflecting the religious iconographic tradition of Madonna and Child imagery. The composition focuses on the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, rendered in a religious genre context.
The painting is held in the Bavarian State Painting Collections at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, and its inception is dated to 1549. The lime panel support and oil medium are documented in the collection's catalogue records.
History & Provenance
The painting was created in 1549, executed in oil paint on a lime panel. According to Wikidata, it is classified as a religious work depicting the Madonna and Child, attributed to an anonymous artist working in the manner of Lucas Cranach the Elder.
The work is held by the Bavarian State Painting Collections and is located at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. No information is available regarding its original commission, early ownership, or the chain of custody prior to its accession by the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
Overview
The work, titled Virgin with Child and Bunch of Grapes, is an oil painting depicting a seated woman in a dark dress with a light mantle, cradling a naked infant on her lap. In her left hand she holds a small bunch of grapes, while a modest architectural structure, interpreted as a castle or church, rises on a hill in the distant background.
Artist & collection
