Pazzi Madonna

The Pazzi Madonna  is a rectangular "stiacciato" marble relief sculpture by Donatello, now in the sculpture collections of the Bode-Museum in Berlin. Dating to around 1425-1430, it was probably originally produced for private devotion in the Palazzo Pazzi della Congiura in Florence at the beginning of Donatello's collaboration with Michelozzo. It was extremely popular and is known in several copies.

The Virgin Mary is shown three-quarter-length, holding the Christ Child in her arms. Neither of them are shown with haloes and the emphasis is instead on their tender and intense intimacy, developing themes from the Eleusa-type icon in Byzantine art. The child reaches out his arm to his mother, but both their expressions are melancholy, with the Virgin reflecting on her son's future Passion.

References

Category:Marble sculptures
Category:Sculptures by Donatello
category:Sculptures of the Berlin State Museums