The Virgin and Child with Saint John as a Boy

A red velvet cloth held by three winged angel putti forms a kind of baldachin between the group - consisting of the Virgin Mary, her son and the Infant St John - and the neutral background. Depicted in a three-quarter view, the Madonna clasps both hands around the unclothed Christ Child standing on her lap and receiving an apple from John. The offering and acceptance of the apple are symbolic of the Fall of Man and his redemption through Christ's sacrificial death. John is dressed in a girded fur garment in allusion to his later hermitage in the desert. When John baptized Christ he recognized him as the Messiah and called him 'Lamb of God' - a circumstance referred to by the lamb on which he is bracing his left hand.

Metaphorically complex images of the Virgin Mary were extremely popular. The subject is one that Cranach returned to frequently with only minor modifications. The artist was able to meet the demand for replicas of this kind thanks to his highly organized studio, which also had a major share in the execution of this picture. The fact that despite some weaknesses, the picture presents itself as a 'typical' Cranach is due to the artist's systematically developed visual language, which rests primarily on highly stylized forms that emphasize the ideal rather than the individual.

[Elsbeth Wiemann, http://onlinekatalog.staatsgalerie.de/detail.jsp?id=66481EEE4E0AE1046EFF4B7B8E57EA4&img=1; 22-07-2015]