Bellini, Madonna and Child

Years ago I studied this painting as a student. I was immediately drawn in by the Virgin’s left hand, which extends forward across this marble parapet. Her fingertip actually reaches over the outer ledge and protrudes into our space. Even though the Virgin and Child both avert our gaze, it’s this particular gesture that for me at least, creates a point of entry into the painting. We see Bellini playing with these boundaries between the sacred world and our own. More recently I’ve begun to view the painting in a very different way. When my daughter was born, I began to focus on something else: her right hand that holds the Child in very closely to her body. The way that she holds the Child has this familiarity to me. She seems to be supporting his body, as if his legs aren’t strong enough to hold himself up. She also seems to be restraining him, protecting him. His head is tucked underneath her chin, and even the thumb of that hand that reaches out to us is also pressed up against his leg. The Virgin, with one hand, is restraining the Child, and holding him in, and with the other hand is reaching out to us. And the same is true of the Christ Child. One hand is raised in a gesture of blessing; in the other, he grasps his mother’s fingers in this way that…that children do. Other than this very tender gesture, he is not portrayed as a playful child. He has this grave expression on his face, and he also looks off outside of the picture plane. Before becoming a mother I would have looked at the interaction between the mother and child as being quite formal. But I think now, my understanding of it is clearer. What I see now is the Virgin and Child unified in their thoughts, as if they’re both anticipating his fate. Often a parent’s emotion reflects their child’s. I can see a very deep sense of compassion, a mother’s desire to protect her child, which she may only be able to do for a short while. I see this painting not only as the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, but as any mother and child.