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Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThe drawing captures a tender moment where the young Saint John presents a small bird to the Christ Child under the watchful gaze of the Virgin. The sketch employs a stable, triangular composition and quick, rhythmic lines to define the forms and their emotional connection. This is a preliminary study for the finished oil painting known as the Madonna del Cardellino.
This work reflects the synthesis of Christian theology and Neoplatonic aesthetics characteristic of the High Renaissance in Florence. The central symbol, the goldfinch, was believed to feed on thorns and thus served as a naturalistic prefiguration of the Crown of Thorns and the Passion of Christ.
RV R.49 517
Marsilio Ficino
Raphael’s pursuit of geometric harmony and ideal human beauty in his Madonnas is frequently associated with Ficinian Neoplatonism and the idea of physical beauty reflecting divine goodness.
Object
Oil on panel
religious
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
https://collections.ashmolean.org/object/72045
800 × 1106 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.