Our Lady of Tenderness

What it is and where it is

It is incredible how this work manages to condense so much sweetness, grace and intimacy into a small space. Andrea Mantegna's Madonna of Tenderness might at first glance look like a sculpture. You will be surprised to learn that it is actually a drawing on parchment with a tempera-painted background. As if to seal once and for all the Mother-Son bond, Mantegna traces in pen these two figures that, silhouetted against the colors of the ruins in the background, seem to be made of pure marble.

Why it is special

We are accustomed to seeing paintings or sculptures depicting the Madonna and Child, just as we also know how to recognize the architectural trompe-l'oeil we sometimes come across, but I think it is really hard to claim to have seen such artifice anywhere else. There is something magical and unexpected about the naturalness with which the monochrome of the two human figures breaks away from the background. The background, notable as it is, only acts as an outline, and almost fades from our view, all focused on that drawing that has the strength and presence of a statue, but a statue so beautiful and realistic, that you would sit and stare at it for hours, convinced that sooner or later you would catch a movement of it.