Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist and coat of arms of Portugal

From the mid-fifteenth century onwards, several Portuguese commissions were placed at the Florentine workshop of the Della Robbia family, helping to spread the artistic forms of the Renaissance.
The medallion of the Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist from the Convent of Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Beja, founded by Prince Fernando (1433-1470) and his wife Beatriz (1430-1506), the parents of Manuel I (r. 1495-1521) and Queen Leonor (1458-1525), highlights the fascination that existed in royal circles for the works produced at the Della Robbia workshop.
The medallion with the royal coat of arms of Portugal, which was made for the Convent of Madre de Deus in Lisbon, founded by Queen Leonor, marked the royal foundation of this building and signalled the fact that it was under the patronage of the royal house, as well as celebrating the memory of João II. The arms are presented by two angels, acting as God’s messengers, and, as was stipulated in the heraldic reform introduced by João II in 1485, they are silver, with five blue escutcheons in the shape of a cross, charged with five bezants upon the field, and bordered in red with seven gold castles.