The Virgin seated with the Christ Child in her lap
XVI century.Not on display
The psychology of the group, with the Virgin bending her face down to kiss the Christ Child´s breast, and the cradling of his left foot in her left hand, are deftly conveyed by the minimum of means. The simplification of form are also strong and coherent. A related motif of the Virgin and Child appears in several of Cambiaso´s drawn and painted works. For example, a painting by Cambiaso of the Virgin and Child in a Landscape in the Galleria di Palazzo Bianzo, Genoa, features the Virgin in a not dissimilar pose, though the Infant Christ stands on the ground in front of her.
A variant group is also to be found in the left foreground of a composition of the Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist in a Landscape I Berlin (inv. no. KdZ.7714).
Turner, Nicholas, From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci. A century of Italian drawings from the Prado, Chicago, Art Services International, 2008, p.230
