The Virgin and Child

The Virgin Mary stands behind a stone parapet, supporting her infant son with one hand; Christ balances on a green cloth lying over the sill. In the background you can see monks in white habits strolling in the grounds of a large church – one is accompanied by a layman and his dog.

The monks are Carthusians, and the church is the Certosa (Charterhouse) of Pavia, where Ambrogio Bergognone worked from the late 1480s. You can see the front of the building under construction to the right of the Virgin’s cloth of honour. This small panel may well have been made for the private devotional use of one of the monks.

Text: © The National Gallery, London

Painting photographed in its frame by Google Arts & Culture, 2023.