Madonna and Child with Saints

Art Historical Context

Ludovico Carracci’s *Madonna and Child with Saints* (1607) is a compact yet richly detailed devotional painting executed in oil on copper. Measuring just under 12 inches tall, the work’s intimate scale and luminous surface were ideally suited to private prayer. Copper supports allowed artists to achieve jewel-like clarity and fine brushwork, qualities that heighten the tender exchange between the Virgin and the Christ Child at the center of the composition. Carracci, a leading figure of the Bolognese school, helped steer Italian painting away from late Mannerist artificiality toward greater n...