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The Virgin Mary looks down tenderly at her child as he nurses, turning his eyes towards us, a goldfinch in his hand. Painted in Milan around 1490, the Madonna Litta is one of two Leonardo paintings in the Hermitage, though how much Leonardo painted himself is still debated.
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A Madonna from Milan
The Madonna Litta was painted in Milan around 1490, when Leonardo da Vinci was working for Ludovico Sforza. It shows the Virgin Mary nursing the infant Christ in a dark room with two arched windows opening onto a blue landscape.
The painting takes its name from the Litta family of Milan, who owned it until 1865, when Count Antonio Litta sold it to Tsar Alexander II for the Hermitage. A preparatory drawing for the head of the Virgin by Leonardo is in the Louvre. Many historians believe that the painting was executed largely by one of his pupils, probably Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, following Leonardo's design.
The Virgin's face
Mary bends her head over her son with a calm, tender expression, her eyes lowered. Her profile is delicate, her skin smooth, and her hair is covered by a thin veil. The serenity of her face contrasts with the liveliness of the child.
Detail 1
The tender Virgin
Mary looks down at her child with a soft, contemplative expression, her face modelled with gentle light.
The nursing child
The child nurses at his mother's breast but turns his eyes out of the painting, towards the viewer, as if aware of being watched. The theme of the nursing Madonna, the Madonna lactans, emphasised Christ's humanity.
Detail 2The child turns to us
While nursing, the infant Christ turns his gaze towards the viewer, linking us to the intimate scene.
The goldfinch
In his left hand the child holds a small goldfinch. In Christian symbolism, the goldfinch, which feeds among thorns and has a red patch on its head, was associated with the crown of thorns and the Passion of Christ. A charming detail of childhood thus becomes a prophecy of suffering.
Detail 3The goldfinch
The child holds a goldfinch, a bird linked with the crown of thorns and Christ's future Passion.
The windows
Behind the figures, two arched windows open onto a distant landscape of blue mountains and sky. The symmetrical windows frame the Virgin's head and bring light into the dark interior, a device Leonardo also used in the Madonna of the Carnation.
Detail 4A window on the landscape
Through the arched window, blue hills and sky open beyond the dark room, balancing the composition.
Leonardo's workshop in Milan
In Milan, Leonardo ran a busy workshop with pupils and assistants, including Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Marco d'Oggiono and Salaì. They often painted works from his designs, under his supervision, so that the attribution of some paintings, like the Madonna Litta, is still debated. The meticulous preparatory drawing for the Virgin's head in the Louvre shows Leonardo's hand in the invention of the work. Whether painted mostly by Leonardo or by Boltraffio, the Madonna Litta has the tender intimacy and the soft light characteristic of his circle, and it became one of the most popular images in the Hermitage. Its theme of the nursing Madonna gives it a warmth and humanity that visitors still find deeply moving.
Seeing the Madonna Litta
The painting was transferred from wood to canvas in the nineteenth century. It measures about 42 by 33 centimetres and hangs in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, near the Benois Madonna.
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Why is it called the Madonna Litta?
It is named after the Litta family of Milan, who owned it until selling it to the Hermitage in 1865.
What does the goldfinch symbolise?
The goldfinch is linked with the crown of thorns and the Passion of Christ.
Did Leonardo paint the Madonna Litta himself?
The design is Leonardo's, but many historians think the painting was largely executed by his pupil Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio.
Where is the Madonna Litta?
It is in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
Sources and further reading
- State Hermitage Museum, collection notes on the Madonna Litta
- Luke Syson (ed.), Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan (National Gallery, 2011)
- Frank Zöllner, Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings (2003)
