Raffaello, madonna della seggiola, 1513+14 ca. 01

This circular painting, known as a tondo, depicts a moment of maternal intimacy between Mary and the infant Jesus. Mary wears a vibrant, patterned shawl and a striped headdress, her gaze meeting the viewer's while she pulls the child close. To the right, the young Saint John the Baptist is visible in the shadows, holding a small reed cross and clasping his hands.

The work reflects the High Renaissance synthesis of humanism and Christian devotion, particularly the Neoplatonic concept of the circle (tondo) as a symbol of divine perfection and cosmic harmony. This geometric ideal was central to the philosophical circles in Florence and Rome that influenced Raphael's compositional choices.