Virgin and Child with a Pomegranate

Sandro Botticelli's Virgin and Child with a Pomegranate, now in the National Museum Cardiff, belongs to his extensive production of devotional Madonnas. The pomegranate was a rich symbol in Renaissance art, representing both Christ's Passion through its blood-red seeds and the Church through its many seeds united in one fruit. The tempera medium required careful preparation on a gessoed panel and a disciplined layering technique that produced precise, durable surfaces suited to the intricate detail expected of devotional painting.

The tondo or circular format was Botticelli's specialty for domestic devotional paintings, with the flowing linear rhythms and lyrical grace that made his Madonnas among the most admired in Florence.