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This painting is among the earliest known works by Filippino Lippi, probably made when he was still a member of the workshop of the Florentine painter Sandro Botticelli. It shows the Virgin Mary holding the infant Christ in her right arm. He plucks seeds from a pomegranate – the fruit was a symbol of the Passion (his torture and crucifixion). Christ’s cousin, Saint John the Baptist, looks on in wonder, holding his reed cross and clutching at the folds of his red cloak. A book lies open on the marble sill in the foreground, its text illegible. The vase with flowers may allude to the Virgin, who was thought of as a vessel from which the Christ Child came. A mountainous landscape opens out behind the group, with a little city in the distance.
Title
The Virgin and Child with Saint John
Date
about 1480
Medium
Tempera on poplar
Measurements
H 59.1 x W 43.8 cm
Accession number
NG1412
Acquisition method
Bought, 1894
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
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