The Virgin with the Child, with Cherries and a Cherry Tree in the Background

This Virgin with Child and cherries attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, around 1486, at Christ Church Oxford, is one of the many Madonnas associated with Leonardo's circle. The cherry, symbolizing the blood of Christ, adds symbolic depth to the tender domestic scene Leonardo da Vinci approached painting as a vehicle for scientific inquiry, bringing unprecedented psychological depth and sfumato modeling to each composition The Virgin Mary occupied a central place in late medieval and Renaissance pi

The sfumato modeling of the faces demonstrates the soft, atmospheric technique Leonardo developed in Milan. The landscape background dissolves into blue-grey distance with characteristic Leonardesque aerial perspective.