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BOTTICELLI, Sandro: Madonna of the Book (Madonna del Libro)

🖼 Madonna of the Book (Madonna del Libro), c. 1483
Tempera on panel
58 × 39.5 cm
Milan, Italy

Delicate lines and soft gold leaf frame Madonna absorbed in sacred text, her Child reaching toward the book with tender curiosity. This intimate domestic scene revolutionized Renaissance devotion, transforming Mary into an intellectual figure while emphasizing maternal tenderness over formal grandeur.

The story of art
The story of art
E. H. Gombrich
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