Madonna and Child with Cross

1514
Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice, Italy

Many paintings have the Christ Child holding or being offered a symbol of the adult Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection. This may be the least subtle of the kind, with the angel on the right handing the child a cross.

The relief is set in a tympanum above a side door of the Frari complex. At the very top, the figure of the Father blesses the viewers with his right hand and presents an open book which presumably once had some legible text.

The wisp of cloth that covers the child's genitals is common in the 16th century. The specific date listed above is taken from the memorial plaque that accompanies this relief:



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Photographed at the Frari complex by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.