The Alba Madonna
c. 1510 · Oil on panel, transferred to canvas · National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
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About this work
- Artist
- Raphael (1483–1520)
- Year
- c. 1510
- Medium
- Oil on panel, transferred to canvas
- Original size
- 94.5 cm (diameter)
- Collection
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Movement
- Renaissance
In a round composition the Virgin sits on the ground in a wide Italian landscape, a book in her hand, while the young John the Baptist kneels to offer a slender cross that the Christ Child takes from him; all three look at it, a foreshadowing of the Crucifixion. Flowers at their feet carry meanings, among them cyclamen for love and sorrow and violets for humility. Raphael painted the tondo in about 1510, after moving to Rome, for Paolo Giovio, who as Bishop of Nocera de' Pagani later gave it to a church in Nocera. A Spanish viceroy of Naples took it to Spain in 1686, and it passed by marriage to the Dukes of Alba, whose name it keeps. Nicholas I of Russia bought it in 1836 for the Hermitage, where it was transferred from panel to canvas. The Soviet government sold it secretly to Andrew W. Mellon in 1931, and it entered the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 1937.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A round painting of the Virgin in blue and rose with two infants on a sunlit meadow under a pale sky, soft and balanced, for a living room, bedroom or stair wall at 24×36 in natural wood. A cream or sky-blue wall; it pairs with The Sistine Madonna.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Renaissance painting
- Era
- 16th century (c. 1510)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- living room, bedroom, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; natural wood lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Alba Madonna in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Alba Madonna painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.



























