Where Is Madonna and Child? Museum Location

Q: What makes this Madonna unusual?

Unlike traditional smiling Madonnas, Mary gazes down pensively while the Christ child stands almost stepping away. The mood is contemplative rather than tender.

Q: Where can I see this sculpture?

The marble sculpture stands in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium, where the Moscheroni brothers placed it in the early 1500s.

Q: Was this sculpture ever stolen?

Twice. Napoleon's forces took it in 1794; it returned after Waterloo. German soldiers took it in 1944; it was found in an Austrian salt mine.

Q: Why is this sculpture historically significant?

It was the only Michelangelo sculpture to leave Italy during his lifetime. Bruges merchants purchased it for 100 ducats around 1504.

Michelangelo carved this marble Madonna and Child between 1503 and 1505. The 128 cm sculpture shows Mary seated with the Christ child standing between her knees, almost stepping away from her. Unlike traditional depictions of a smiling mother cradling an infant, this Virgin gazes downward in quiet contemplation while her son appears ready to leave.

This was the only Michelangelo sculpture to leave Italy during his lifetime. Bruges cloth merchants Giovanni and Alessandro Moscheroni purchased it for 100 ducats. The sculpture has twice been removed: by Napoleon's forces in 1794 (returned after Waterloo) and by retreating German soldiers in 1944 (discovered in an Austrian salt mine). It stands in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, a High Renaissance work in a Gothic setting.

Unlike traditional smiling Madonnas, Mary gazes down pensively while the Christ child stands almost stepping away. The mood is contemplative rather than tender.

The marble sculpture stands in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium, where the Moscheroni brothers placed it in the early 1500s.

Twice. Napoleon's forces took it in 1794; it returned after Waterloo. German soldiers took it in 1944; it was found in an Austrian salt mine.

It was the only Michelangelo sculpture to leave Italy during his lifetime. Bruges merchants purchased it for 100 ducats around 1504.

Madonna and Child

Where to See It

The Artist

More by Michelangelo

St. Anne with Virgin and Child Christ

Study to "Battle of Cascina"

Angel with Candlestick

Doni Tondo (Holy Family)

Related Renaissance Works

Sistine Madonna

The Birth of Venus

The School of Athens

The Alba Madonna

Venus of Urbino

Venus with a Mirror

Laocoön

Pallas and the Centaur

About Madonna and Child

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