Mother and Child

Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431 – September 13, 1506)
Madonna and Child c 1490
Copperplate engraving on laid paper
250.000 mm x 210.000 mm
The British Museum, London

A similar engraving is in The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC

Mantegna was no less eminent as an engraver, as a painter.

He and his workshop engraved about thirty plates, according to the usual reckoning; large, full of figures, and highly studied

In this plate, the emphasis is on the tenderness displayed between mother and child. She cradles her infant in her arms with her cheek. against his face. Her knees support his small body.