Virgin and Child Seated at the Foot of a Tree

Gossaert created two engravings depicting the Virgin and Child, and in both he melded Northern sources with Italian ones. The theme is indebted to Albrecht Durer, who produced two engravings of the subject, the Italian inspiration was sculptural. Michelangelo's relief The Madonna of the Steps (circa 1490, Casa Buonarroti, Florence) was the model for the unusual position of the child's arm, turned backward, and Donatello's relief the Pazzi Madonna (1420s�1430s, Staatliche Museen, Berlin) inspired the arrangement of the figures gazing into each other's eyes and the position of the Virgin's hands... Mehr ...