# Virgin and Child \(detail\) [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [BELLINI, Giovanni]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Oil on canvas ## Commentary The theme of the Virgin and Child represented in half length behind a marble ledge was one particularly favoured by Bellini, and he painted innumerable versions of it throughout his long life. He succeeded in investing it at once with human accessibility and spiritual gravity. On one level Mary is portrayed as a mother, tenderly looking after her child as he plays with a sprig of blossom on a thread. Yet, despite the elimination of accessories such as crowns, haloes and rich fabrics, the divine status of the figures is clearly implied by their seriousness and thoughtfulness. ## Related artworks - [Agony in the Garden \(detail\)]() - [Agony in the Garden]() - [Angel Announcing \(detail\)]() - [Angel of the Annunciation and Virgin Annunciate]() - [Angel of the Annunciation and Virgin Annunciate]() - [Baptism of Christ]() - [Barbarigo Altarpiece \(detail\)]() - [Barbarigo Altarpiece \(detail\)]() - [Barbarigo Altarpiece \(detail\)]() - [Barbarigo Altarpiece]() - [Blessing Christ]() - [Bust of a Man]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()