The pose of the Madonna, with her hand raised, delicately holding a flower in her fingers, is borrowed from Verrocchio’s models; and her face still resembles a type of female head common to the repertoire of the workshop where Leonardo had served his apprenticeship.
The faces are put into light while all other objects are darker, f.e. the carnation is covered by a shadow. The child is looking up, the mother is looking down - there is no eye contact. The setting of the portrait is a room with two windows on each side of the figures.
Dating from 1478-1480, the title is also known as the Madonna of the Leonardo da Vinci; Munich Madonna; Madonna with the Carnation; and the Madonna with the Vase, for the vase beside the Blessed Mother.
This original oil painting is in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.
The Madonna of the Carnation
