The Virgin and Child with a Book - Sandro Botticelli
Archival giclée
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Description
A serene Early Renaissance depiction of the Virgin and Child by Sandro Botticelli, featuring delicate line work and symbolic iconography.
This work, often identified as the Virgin and Child with a Book, displays the characteristic linear grace associated with Sandro Botticelli. The composition focuses on the intimate interaction between the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child. Mary is depicted in a deep blue mantle, her gaze directed downward toward the open manuscript, while the Child reaches toward the pages. The inclusion of a bowl of fruit, specifically cherries, serves as a traditional iconographic reference to the Passion, as the red colour anticipates the blood of the sacrifice.
Botticelli employs a refined technique, using delicate lines to define the facial features and the folds of the drapery. The background features a window opening onto a distant, simplified landscape, a common device in Florentine painting of the period to provide spatial depth. The light is even and clear, illuminating the figures without harsh shadows, which allows the subtle modelling of the skin tones to emerge. The halos are rendered with fine, gold-leaf tooling, adding a decorative element that contrasts with the naturalistic treatment of the figures.
The manuscript, open to a page of Latin text, suggests a moment of quiet study or prayer. This domestic setting for a sacred subject was popular in the late fifteenth century, bringing the divine figures into a more relatable, human context for the viewer. The balance between the verticality of the Virgin and the active posture of the Child creates a stable, triangular composition. This painting remains a representative example of the artist's ability to combine theological symbolism with a gentle, humanised approach to religious narrative.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
The Virgin and Child with a Book - Sandro Botticelli
Artist Biography
Sandro Botticelli
He worked in Florence under the patronage of the Medici family during the period art historians call the Early Renaissance. The Birth of Venus and Primavera, both painted in the 1480s, are his best-known works and among the most reproduced images in Western art. They are strange paintings. Venus stands on a shell, blown to shore by the wind, her body curved in a way that owes nothing to anatomical reality and everything to Gothic line. Primavera fills a dark orange grove with mythological figures whose feet barely touch the ground.
The paintings are technically tempera on canvas and panel, executed with a fineness of line that reflects his goldsmith training. The outlines are visible. The surfaces are flat compared to the oil-based modelling that Leonardo and other contemporaries were developing. Botticelli was not interested in three-dimensional illusion. He was interested in contour, pattern, and the way a line can describe both a body and an emotion simultaneously.
His later career was affected by the rise of the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola, who preached against secular art and luxury. Botticelli may have burned some of his own paintings in the Bonfire of the Vanities in 1497. Whether this represents genuine religious conversion or political self-preservation is unclear. His output declined. He died in 1510, largely forgotten, and was not rediscovered until the Pre-Raphaelites championed him in the nineteenth century.
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