Madonna and Child
by DUCCIO di Buoninsegna, Tempera and gold on wood, 24 x 17 cm (without frame)
In this panel, often referred to as the Stoclet Madonna after a former owner, the Virgin looks towards the Child seated in the crook of her arm as he reaches for her veil. This motif may reflect the medieval literary tradition identifying Christ’s loincloth with the Virgin’s veil, in which she wrapped the Child after his birth. The beautifully modelled drapery enhances their three-dimensional, physical presence and the parapet connects the fictive, sacred world of the painting with the temporal one of the viewer.
The painting is in an original frame, the bottom end of which is marked by candle burns.