100 Days of Art History Jinjins

54/100

Madonna and Child

I talked about Virgin Mary tropes in Entry 43. This is another classic trope, the Madonna and Child. And this is an excellent one where both are extremely stylized and don't look quite human. In the west, think we're used to Madonna and Child paintings and get a little bored by them. But this one is not boring at all--just look at their faces and Mary's improbably long hand.

Wikipedia tells me that Susan Sontag's "Notes on 'Camp'" references this painting: "Camp is the paintings of Carlo Crivelli, with their real jewels and trompe-l'oeil insects and cracks in the masonry." I agree!

Reference image from The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where this picture is today.

﴾ Back to full gallery ﴿