The Virgin and Child with singing Angels (Raczyński Tondo)
Sandro Botticellicirca 1478
Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Berlin, Germany
It is possible that this circular picture used to belong to the Brothers of S. Francesco in Florence. Mary is identified as the Queen of Heaven by a crown, but at the
same time she is the mother of the boy Christ, who is marked out for sacrifice. He is reaching for her breast. Theologians saw Mary as the giver of nourishment, as
the mother of all mankind, and of salvation. Singing angels are praising her, with lilies in their hands as symbols of purity. Just as the ideal of earthly female beauty
was always sought in the face and form of Mary, in the same way the angels can be seen as embodying youthful harmony. Botticelli mastered this demanding format
with a calculated pictorial order that takes up the circular border: the Madonna is enthroned at the centre of a multiple encircling movement.| Prestel Museum Guides - Gemäldegalerie Berlin, 2017
- Title: The Virgin and Child with singing Angels (Raczyński Tondo)
- Creator: Sandro Botticelli
- Date Created: circa 1478
- Physical Dimensions: 136,5 Dm
- Type: Tondo
- External Link: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
- Medium: Poplar
- Style: Italian
- Inv. No.: 102A
- ISIL-No.: DE-MUS-017018
- Copyright Image: Photo: © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie / Image by Google
- Collection: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
- Artist information: Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter of the Florentine school during the early Renaissance. He was initially trained as a goldsmith by his brother Antonio and was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi from 1462 onwards. Between 1465 and 1470 he created several Madonnas which show the influences of his master. Afterwards he opened his own workshop. Along with several other artists he was called to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV to decorate the newly built Sistine Chapel with murals. He mainly executed altar-pieces and religious paintings as well as some which dealt with Greek mythology and allegory. For example, he also created drawings for Dante's Divine Comedy. His best known masterpieces are considered to be 'Primavera' (ca. 1482) and 'The Birth of Venus' (ca. 1485). When Fra Savonarola established his theocracy in Florence after the expulsion of the Medici in 1494, Botticelli dedicated himself to religious topics.
- Artist Place of Death: Florence, Italy
- Artist Place of Birth: Florence, Italy
- Artist Gender: male
- Artist Dates: 1445 - 1510
- Acquired: Acquired jointly by the federal government and the states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate in 1954.
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