“Madonna Magnificat” – the most famous of the paintings of Botticelli on the religious plot, written for private chapels. The name she received on the first word of the prayer of the Mother of God, the text of which is clearly visible on the unfolding of the Disclosed Book. The Infant Christ holds a pomegranate in one hand, and the other leads the hand of Madonna, who enters the beginning of the thank-you song in the unfolded book. Two boys, accompanied by a third, older hold a book and inkwell. Two angels raise a crown over the head of the Madonna, present it as the Queen of Heaven. An elegant golden crown is made up of stars that symbolize the Morning Star, as the Virgin is sometimes called.
“Madonna Magnificat” – a typical Florentine tone emphasizes the exquisite nature of painting by Sandro Botticelli. The round shape gives the artist the opportunity to conduct optical experiments. “Madonna Magnificat” in 1485, thanks to a special bend of curved lines and a general circular rhythm, gives the impression of a painting painted on a convex surface.
Tondo belongs to the time of the flourishing of Botticelli’s workshop, when numerous copies of his paintings were made from it, executed by Botticelli’s pupils in his drawings and cartoons. First of all, these were images of Madonna, for which there was a huge demand.
This artfully inscribed in the circle composition – one of the most remarkable creations of the master. The refined lines of the hands that surrounded the figure of the infant Christ, as it were, continue with the gesture of one of the beautiful angels and, through the hands of other characters, close on the crown of Mary. Such a ring of hands is like a whirlpool, in the center of which you can see a remote peaceful landscape. As in the picture “Madonna with a Pomegranate”, Christ holds a grenade in his hand – a symbol of suffering and immortality, which he will bring to mankind. The whole picture is permeated with the atmosphere of brooding melancholy.
The face of the Madonna Magnificat is noted for all the qualities that were part of Botticelli’s cultivated ideal of beauty. Among them is a thin light skin and a firm but elegant facial structure. The expression of purity and innocence is supplemented by a tinge of tenderness that permeates the rounded lips. Thick braided hair produces an earthly impression reminiscent of the appearance of a peasant girl, but the fashionable items of the toilet-a scarf and a transparent veil-seem to transform the real woman that Botticelli took as the model into the ideal image of Madonna.
This picture was the most expensive work of Botticelli, when it was created, the largest amount of gold paint was used. Usually, gold, as the most expensive paint, was not used in such quantities; when ordering a picture, such conditions were specified in detail.
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