The Virgin and Child

The Virgin and Child, in the National Gallery London, is a late work by Alvise Vivarini from 1483 that shows his mature response to the influence of Giovanni Bellini. The soft modeling and warm atmospheric light of this Virgin and Child represent a significant evolution from the harder, more linear style of his family's earlier production. The National Gallery's holding of multiple works by Lorenzo di Credi and related Venetian painters allows visitors to trace the gradual softening of Italian figural style toward the atmosphere of the High Renaissance.

The Madonna's face is modeled with smooth oil glazes that create the warm, luminous flesh quality associated with the Bellini influence. The Child sits on her lap with a natural, slightly rotated posture, his form given more spatial presence than in earlier Vivarini workshop panels, reflecting the more fully developed three-dimensional conception of figures coming from Bellini's circle.