Madonna of the Book
painting by Sandro Botticelli
The Madonna of the Book, or the Madonna del Libro, is a small painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli, and is preserved in the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan. The painting is executed in tempera on panel. It dates from between 1480 and 1481.
Description
The Madonna of the Book is a soft and elegant work, in which Mary and the Child Jesus are seated by a window in the corner of a room. She holds a Book of Hours, the Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis, prayer books for laymen common in the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. The infant is gazing at his mother whilst she is absorbed in reading the book. The hands of both mother and son are positioned similarly, with the right hands open as in a gesture of blessing, and left hands closed.
Symbolizing the Passion of Jesus, the Christ Child is holding the three nails of the cross, and the crown of thorns. These are probably later additions, added to make the message more explicit. This is the conventional representation in the Christian iconography.
The public source identifies “Madonna of the Book” as painting by Sandro Botticelli. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Madonna, Book and painting.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Madonna of the Book”, the useful work is to connect “painting by Sandro Botticelli” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2269585. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1480 and 1481.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
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- Expand the search: follow Madonna of the Book primary sources, Madonna of the Book archive and Madonna research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Madonna of the Book” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.