Devotional image - 'Madonna and Child'

The carved rococo frame decorated with string of pearl motif and openwork ivy-leaf ornamentation was presumably made for a small-scale portrait or a picture for personal divine prayer, which however was lost. Later – but before it arrived to the museum – a colour reproduction – much smaller than the original, and cut into a circular form – of the painting by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1618–1682), portraying the Madonna and Child, which is preserved in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence – was placed into the frame. The most determining element of the composition rendered intimate due to its small size and tight framing, is the way both the Madonna and the Child Jesus are turned toward the beholder, also drawing her/him into the sacred space of the image.