Madonna and Child in the Clouds by Federico Barocci

Madonna and Child in the Clouds c. 1581

0:00

print, etching

portrait

print

etching

mannerism

figuration

history-painting

Dimensions: 6 1/8 x 4 1/4 in. (15.56 x 10.8 cm) (image, sheet)11 15/16 x 10 in. (30.32 x 25.4 cm) (mount)18 x 14 1/16 in. (45.72 x 35.72 cm) (mat)

Federico Barocci's "Madonna and Child in the Clouds" presents us with potent symbols of maternal love and divinity. Mary, cradling the infant Christ, is surrounded by cherubic faces, her halo signifying her sacred status, the clouds beneath them, the realm between heaven and earth. Consider the 'Madonna and Child' motif itself. Echoes resonate through art history, from ancient Egyptian depictions of Isis and Horus to Byzantine icons. In each iteration, the mother-child bond evokes protection, nurture, and a primal connection that pierces through time. The Renaissance conception softens the figures, humanizing the divine. The halo, a circle of light, initially marked emperors and gods, it transitioned to signify saints and holy figures. This visual association underscores the power of symbols to adapt and absorb new meanings. Such imagery engages our collective memory. Barocci's composition invites not just aesthetic appreciation but a deep, often subconscious, recognition of humanity’s enduring quest for solace and the divine. It is an emotional echo chamber of love and hope.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

⋮

In its efforts to fight the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s, the Roman Catholic Church commissioned artists to produce tender, emotional images that might make its theology more approachable. Federico Barocci was a leading painter of such works. He made just a few prints, but they proved enormously popular and influential. In this freely and delicately drawn etching, he depicts the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Heaven enthroned on a cloud. Her son, Jesus, naked and vulnerable, uses his right hand to bless us and his left to hold a rose whose thorns foreshadow the crown of thorns he is forced to wear prior to his crucifixion.