Madonna and Child in a Landscape

Orazio Gentileschi's 1622 Madonna and Child in a Landscape was painted during his English period — he moved to London in 1626, but the date may reflect his time in Paris or Genoa before that. His version of the subject shows the influence of his Caravaggesque Roman training filtered through increasing contact with Northern European painting traditions. Gentileschi's Madonnas are notable for their unaffected naturalism and cool, clear colour — qualities that distinguished him from both the warm Roman Baroque and the more theatrical Caravaggism of his contemporaries. The landscape setting gives the work a pastoral serenity.

Gentileschi's characteristic cool, silvery light — often contrasted with deep blue-grey shadows — defines the Madonna's pale drapery and skin. The landscape background is handled with soft atmospheric recession. The figures are monumental but tenderly intimate in their grouping, the child placed securely in the Virgin's arms.