Madonna and Child with grapes and lily in a landscape

Ambrosius Benson painted this image of the Virgin and Child around 1528, 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 Compton Verney Art Gallery 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 landscape composition demonstrates skill in rendering atmospheric perspective and natural textures. The treatment of light and space reflects contemporary developments in landscape painting.