This "tondo" (round painting) depicts the "Virgo lactans," which is the Latin term for the nursing Virgin Mary. The image testifies to the humanity of Christ as it shows that he consumed food like all other humans. Mary is seated on the ground. In this pose, she is known as the Madonna of Humility. The young Saint John the Baptist, Jesus' second cousin, gazes reverently at Christ. John the Baptist was the patron saint of Florence, and the painting comes from the Florentine artist Sandro Botticelli's workshop, as can be seen in its graceful contours, so it was most likely painted for a patron from that city. A "tondo" was not used as an altarpiece and could be hung in a private home.
For more information on this tondo, please see Zeri catalogue number 58, p. 94.
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Sandro_Botticelli" class="extiw" title="w:en:Sandro Botticelli"><span title="Italian painter (1445-1510)">Sandro Botticelli</span></a>
</bdi>
between 1495 and 1499 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1495-00-00T00:00:00Z/8,P1319,+1495-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1499-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Renaissance" class="extiw" title="w:en:Renaissance"><span title="cultural movement that spanned the period roughly from the 14th to the 17th century">Renaissance</span></a><div style="display: none;">era QS:P2348,Q4692</div>)
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Walters_Art_Museum" class="extiw" title="w:en:Walters Art Museum"><span title="art museum in Baltimore, Maryland, United States">Walters Art Museum</span></a>: <a href="https://thewalters.org/" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Nuvola filesystems folder home.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/20px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png" decoding="async" width="20" height="20" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/30px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/40px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128"></a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://thewalters.org/">Home page</a> <a href="https://art.thewalters.org/detail/15551" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Information icon.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/20px-Information_icon.svg.png" decoding="async" width="20" height="20" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/30px-Information_icon.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/40px-Information_icon.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="620" data-file-height="620"></a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://art.thewalters.org/detail/15551">Info about artwork</a>