Madonna and Child
Giovanni Bellini
ca. 1470
The Lehman Madonna is a c.1470 tempera-on-panel painting of the Madonna and Child by the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini.
This early work by Bellini demonstrates the influence of his brother-in-law, the Paduan artist Andrea Mantegna. The orange-colored gourds in the garland hanging behind the Madonna's head symbolize the Resurrection; the fruit at the right might be a cherry, representing the Eucharist (Holy Communion) or an apple, representing the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. The gourd on the left has been identified by Levi d'Ancona as a Balsam Pear.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0 · Text: Wikipedia (adapted), CC BY-SA 4.0