Shown from the lap up, a young woman sits facing us as she cradles a plump baby in her lap in this square painting. They both have pale, peachy skin and blond hair. They are softly lit from the upper left, and the background behind them is inky black. A sea-blue cloth drapes over the woman’s head and across her shoulders. Its top edge is rolled back slightly, revealing tendrils of long, wavy hair framing her face. A thin gold line creates a delicate halo around head. Her scarlet-red gown is gathered and belted high above the waist. A cobalt-blue mantle lined with pumpkin orange drapes down…
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The Madonna of the Carnation

Bernardino Luini (Milanese, c. 1480 - 1532)

c. 1515

Medium
oil on panel
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 43.8 x 40.3 cm (17 1/4 x 15 7/8 in.)
Culture
Milanese
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CIS-R
Credit line
Samuel H. Kress Collection
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art