Madonnas of the Early Masters of Art for Mothers
“It is not for nothing that the old painters, however diverse their ideas in other matters, all fixed upon one quality as proper to the pattern Mother. The Madonna, no matter out of whose canvas she looks at you, is always serene. This is a great truth, and we should do well to hang our walls with the Madonnas of all the early Masters if the lesson, taught through the eye, would reach with calming influence to the heart. Is this a hard saying for mothers in these anxious and troubled days? It may be hard, but it is not unsympathetic. If mothers could learn to do for themselves what they do for their children when these are overdone, we should have happier households.”
Charlotte Mason (School Education, p. 33)
I was contacted earlier this year by a reader who sent me this quote from School Education. She wanted to know which paintings might fall under this category of “Madonnas of the early Masters” and how to find them. Coincidentally, last year, after the Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat, I had another fellow homeschooling mother come to me and ask for something similar.
Of course, I’ve read this excerpt in the past, and immediately, certain paintings come to mind (in particular, a few from the artists lists series I did earlier this year), but I’ve never spent extensive time thinking about this. Being the student of art history that I was, however, after the email earlier this year, I decided I really wanted to explore this quote further, and in this post, I’m offering a list of representations of the Madonna that I have found to be particularly beautiful.
A Note on Ethnicity
Historically, and especially in the more well-known movements in art history, Mary is usually depicted as a white woman, and she often has blonde or red hair, and blue eyes. Aside from being historically inaccurate (it’s doubtful that a Middle-Eastern teenager had light skin, blonde hair, or blue eyes), I don’t believe there is anything wrong with this depiction, or Mary portrayed as any other race, as art is not necessarily about historical accuracy, but more about inspiration and contemplation.
Because of this, I had hoped to include more diversity in this list, but it was very challenging to find any that were (a) in the public domain and (b) I liked. I ran across this beautiful piece of a Black Madonna that was painted by a Franciscan nun, and I did reach out to see if I could include the image in my list, but I did not hear back before I published the post. If anyone knows of any paintings that fit in this category, please let me know, as I would love to include them here!
You can use these however you see fit. I like Ms. Mason’s suggestion of hanging a few on your walls for inspiration. I can also see this as a beautiful thing to have displayed during a morning liturgy. However you choose to use these suggestions, I hope the list is helpful!
Madonnas of the Early Masters
Ms. Mason did not specify what constituted an “early master,” so I am offering those I feel fall into that category.
Master of the Třeboň Altarpiece
01
Madonna of Roudnice
ca. 1385
National Gallery Prague
Master of the Straus
02
Master of the Straus Madonna
ca. 1395-1400
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Fra Angelico
03
Madonna of Humility
ca. 1418
Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
04
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels
1425-1449
Galleria degli Uffizi
05
Virgin of Humility
ca. 1433-1435
Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona
Pisanello
06
Madonna of the Quail
ca. 1420
Castelvecchio Museum, Verona
(photograph by Vuvueffino; shared under Creative CommonsAttribution 4.0 International license [removed background])
Donato de’ Bardi
07
Madonna and Child (Central Panel)
ca. 1425-1430
The Metropolitan Museum, New York
Rogier van der Weyden
08
Durán Madonna
ca. 1435-1438
Museo del Prado, Madrid
Fra Filippo Lippi
09
Madonna and Child
ca. 1450-1465
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Andrea Mantegna
10
Virgin and Child
1465
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Carlo Crivelli
11
Madonna with Child
1470
Macerata Musei, Minzoni, Italy
Benvenuto di Giovanni
12
Madonna and Child
ca. 1470
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Hugo van der Goes
13
Virgin and Child (Central Panel)
(follower of Hugo van der Goes)
1480s
The National Gallery, London
Bernardo Luini
14
The Virgin and Child
(Workshop of Bernardo Luini)
ca. 1480-1532
The National Gallery, London
15
Enthroned Madonna and Child with Angels
(Workshop of Bernardo Luini)
mid-16th century
Brooklyn Museum, New York
Francesco Francia
16
Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Jerome
ca. 1500-1510
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Leonardo da Vinci
17
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne
ca. 1501-1519
Louvre, Paris
(I also have a Picture Study Aid for Leonardo da Vinci available here!)
Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina
18
Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John
ca. 1505
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Giovanni Bellini
19
Madonna and Child
ca. 1510
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Raphael
20
Tempi Madonna
1508
Alte Pinakothek, Munich
21
Sistine Madonna
1513
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany
Jacopo Pontormo
22
Madonna and Child with the young Saint John
ca. 1529-1530
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Lucas Cranach the Elder
23
Madonna and Child with St. John
1540
Private collection
Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato
24
Madonna and Child
ca. 1650
Private collection
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
25
Madonna and Child
ca. 1655-1660
Mauritshuis, The Hague
Madonnas of the Modern Masters
Russian School Icon
01
Icon with Virgin and Child
1800s
Wellcome Collection, London
Pompeo Batoni
02
Madonna and Child
1742
Borghese Gallery, Rome
William Dyce
03
The Madonna and Child
1845
Royal Collection Trust
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
04
The Virgin of the Lillies
1899
Private collection
05
Madonna of the Roses
1903
Lyndhurst Mansion, Tarrytown, New York
Marianne Stokes
06
Madonna and Child
ca. 1900
Private collection
07
Madonna and Child
ca. 1907-1908
Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton, U.K.
What other paintings would you add to this list? And which one is your favorite?
What a lovely collection! Here a couple I would add to my list: https://russianicon.com/top-3-popular-andrei-rublev-icons/ I also love Jonathan Pageau’s Virgin of Vladimir carving but as he is a contemporary of ours, it’s not public domain.
Love the quote from CM and this idea. The Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato one is my favorite! He has a few more that I really loved too. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-virgin-and-child-144394/search/actor:sassoferrato-16091685/view_as/grid/page/1 and https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-virgin-and-child-embracing-115947/search/actor:sassoferrato-16091685/view_as/grid/page/1 and https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/madonna-and-child-223564/search/actor:sassoferrato-16091685/view_as/grid/page/1
Oh my goodness, could you please offer this as one of your printed sets?? This is such a neat idea: to study the images of Mary. I would love to have the prints here, and any artist information that might be relevant with it!
Yay!! Thank you so much for this!! Now to decide which ones to hang on my walls!
Thank you so much for this lovely collection! I am excited to give these my full attention.
I was also wondering if you have seen these modern versions of the Madonna…At first they are surprising but I think they have a lot to say to us as women and home educators of the 21st century.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2491356/A-modern-Madonna-Child-Iconic-image-gets-revamp-touching-moment-interrupted-iPhone.html