#5721 - Virgin and Child

This stamp features the Virgin and Child, an oil painting done in the first half of the 16th century. It was painted by an unidentified Florentine artist who art scholars refer to as the Master of the Scandicci Lamentation. Italian artists from the Renaissance often imitated the composition of paintings done by their peers. Many art historians believe that the unknown artist used the poses of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child found in an unfinished painting by Raphael called the Madonna of the Baldacchio done in Florence between 1506 and 1508. The painting shows the Virgin Mary gazing at the infant Christ, with one of her arms holding him at his waist and the other touching his arm, while the Christ child turns his head to look out of the frame to the left. Scott 5721 Virgin and Child