Madonna with Child

What is immediately striking in this painting is the superb psychological articulation of the figures. Their eyes do not meet, but they are united by gestures: the Madonna who tries to protect her son, taking away the fruit, symbol of human sin and prefiguration of the Passion, and the Child who pushes His mother away.
The richly decorated robes and the archaic style of the drapery suggest that the work belongs to Bellini’s youthful period, still very much influenced by the ways of his father Jacopo.