Exhibition
Part of Modern LoveMadonna and Child
Hendrick Bloemaert
(Utrecht / NL)
1630-1640 – oil on panel
The only indication that this is the Virgin Mary is the figure’s clothing: in Christian art, the mother of Christ usually wears a blue cloak over a red tunic. Her newborn son is in white, ‘wrapped in swaddling clothes’ according to the Bible story. Bloemaert has clearly highlighted the mother’s breast and the child’s face to make the maternal relationship between Mary and Christ tangible.
Floris de Beij – trainee curator
Collection Centraal Museum, Utrecht/ bequest 2001
© Central Museum Utrecht
Hendrick Bloemaert’s Madonna and Child is one of the works from the Centraal Museum collection, in dialogue with the artists from the Modern Love festival exhibition.