Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child (panel)

Description

Filippo Lippi's Madonna and Child sits on a throne of which only the soft embroidered cushion and carved armrest can be glimpsed, intent on contemplating her son towards whom she addresses a gesture of prayer. The expression is sweet and indulgent, but almost melancholy, as if the mother foreshadowed her son's painful fate. The little Jesus, covered only by swaddling clothes, responds to Mary's gaze and extends his arms towards her, supported by two angels. The one in the foreground turns its gaze to the outside, to involve the viewer, with a smiling face. The window opens in front of a vast and varied landscape overlooking the sea, with rocks, vegetation, buildings.  The halos are barely hinted at, thin circles and rays of light that do not cover the landscape behind.