Page of Madonna with the Book (Connestabile Madonna) by RAFFAELLO Sanzio in the Web Gallery of Art, a searchable image collection and database of European paintings and sculptures (1100-1850)

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Madonna with the Book (Connestabile Madonna)

1504
Tempera on canvas transferred from wood, diameter 17,9 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

The painting was a gift of the Connestabile family of Perugia to the Russian tzaress in 1871. When transferring to canvas at the end of the last century it was discovered that originally instead of the book there was a pomegranate in the hands of the Madonna. The landscape of the background with snow-capped peaks deserves a particular attention.

Raphael met the challenge of creating a round composition when he painted this delicate Madonna. He provides a stable structure for the round picture by means of the vertical figure of the Madonna and the horizontal lines of the landscape. The Madonna's head is gently inclined and the contour of her left hand flows rhythmically into the outline of the Christ Child's body, thus responding to the circular form.