Madonna and Child with Saint John

Antonio del Ceraiolo painted this image of the Virgin and Child around 1520, 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 Cincinnati Art Museum 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.