Madonna of the Rosegarden (Madonna del Roseto)

Some panel paintings of the Madonna by Botticelli remain from the years around 1470 which are striking expressions of Botticelli’s stylistic development. Two full figure pictures of the Madonna - the Madonna in Glory and the Madonna of the Rosegarden - are in the Uffizi. They represent monumental seated figures filling the entire picture.

Arising strictly from the format of the picture, the arch structure frames the group of mother and child sitting on a stone bench. There is a powerful three-dimensional quality to the figures. Behind the Madonna we can look out onto a garden. A rose bush is clearly visible there, a traditional symbolic image referring to Mary.

Composition, shape and stylistic elements put this Madonna and Child close to another panel painted by Botticelli in his youth, the Fortitude, dated around 1470.