Madonna in the grotto

Bernardino de' Conti painted this image of the Virgin and Child around 1522, one of the most fundamental subjects in European devotional art. The intimate bond between mother and child served as a focus for prayer and meditation. The painting is in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin The Madonna and Child was the most ubiquitous devotional subject of medieval and Renaissance art, present in every church and many private homes as a focus for prayer and spiritual contemplation.

The devotional composition is rendered with attention to the expressive and contemplative qualities that served the painting's function as an aid to prayer and meditation.