Vitale da Bologna
Madonna of the Flagellants

1340-50
Tempera and gold on wood
Pinacoteca Vaticana
Provenance: Church of the Ospedale dei Battuti Bianchi, Ferrara

In her traditional blue mantle, red dress, and crown, Mary sits on a throne and holds the Christ Child in her arms. As in the old traditions the child is fully dressed, but the clothing does not express royal status as in earlier images, and there is a naturalistic touch in the representation of the face and the arm that he wraps around his mother's neck.

The "Flagellants" of the title were the Battuti Bianchi, the confraternity that had recently erected the "Ospedale" or hospital for the poor.

Read more about the Madonna and Child.

Photographed at the Pinacoteca Vaticana by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.