Terms and conditions of use
Virgin and Child with the young Saint John in a garden of roses
(c. 1515)
Medium
oil on wood panel
Measurements
115.4 × 93.5 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by John Higgins, Paula Fox, Ken and Jill Harrison, Alan and Mavourneen Cowen and donors to the Francia Appeal, 2011
Gallery location
16th & 17th Century Gallery - Painting and Sculpture
Mezzanine linked to Level 1, NGV International
About this work
Francesco Francia was the leading Renaissance painter in the northern Italian city of Bologna. Like many successful artists of the time, Francia employed many assistants in his large studio, including his two sons Giacomo and Giulio, who undoubtedly collaborated with their father on this painting. The classically pyramidal composition seen in this work is an original, poetic and Humanistic treatment of a familiar Renaissance subject. The trellis of climbing roses surrounding the group forms a hortus conclusus (enclosed garden), a Franciscan symbol for the Virgin’s chaste self-containment, while the Virgin herself was often referred to as a ‘rose without thorns’.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Accession Number
2011.337
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Human Figures Religion and Mythology
Subjects (specific)
Blessed Virgin Mary (Christian character) infants Jesus Christ (Christian character) John the Baptist, Saint (Abrahamic religion iconography) Madonna and Child (Christian theme) rose (genus) women (female humans)
Movements
Renaissance