The Virgin and Child with a Shoot of Olive

Andrea Previtali painted this Virgin and Child with a Shoot of Olive around 1515 for the National Gallery. The olive branch symbolizes peace and was a Christological symbol of the reconciliation between God and humanity achieved through the Incarnation The Virgin Mary occupied a central place in late medieval and Renaissance piety, venerated as intercessor and Queen of Heaven, her image produced in countless devotional objects for public and private use.

The devotional panel shows Previtali's mature Venetian manner with warm color harmonies and soft atmospheric modeling, combining Bellinesque devotional sweetness with the more painterly approach of the Giorgionesque generation.