The Madonna del Prato (Madonna of the Meadow), formally Madonna with the Christ Child and Saint John the Baptist, is a 1506 painting by Raphael, now held in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is also known as the Madonna del Belvedere after its long residence in the imperial collection in the Vienna Belvedere.

The figures of the Virgin Mary, the infant Jesus, and an infant John the Baptist are shown in a calm grassy meadow, linked by looks. Mary is wearing a gold-bordered blue mantle set against a red dress, extending her right leg along a diagonal. The blue symbolizes the church and the red Christ’s death, with the Madonna touching hands with Jesus the uniting of Mother Church with Christ’s sacrifice. Her eyes fixed on Christ, her head turned to the left and slightly inclined, and her hands steady him as he leans forward unsteadily to touch the miniature cross held by John. The poppy refers to Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.

Source: Raphael – Madonna in the Meadow – Google Art Project – Madonna del Prato (Raphael) – Wikipedia

The Battle of Anghiari (1505) is a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci, at times referred to as “The Lost Leonardo”, which some commentators believe to be still hidden beneath one of the later frescoes in the Salone dei Cinquecento (Hall of the Five Hundred) in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Its central scene depicted four men riding raging war horses engaged in a battle for possession of a standard, at the Battle of Anghiari in 1440.

Many preparatory studies by Leonardo still exist. The composition of the central section is best known through a drawing by Peter Paul Rubens in the Louvre, Paris. This work, dating from 1603 and known as The Battle of the Standard, was based on an engraving of 1553 by Lorenzo Zacchia, which was taken from the painting itself or possibly derived from a cartoon by Leonardo. Rubens succeeded in portraying the fury, the intense emotions and the sense of power that were presumably present in the original painting. Similarities have been noted between this Battle of Anghiari and the Hippopotamus Hunt painted by Rubens in 1616.

In March 2012, it was announced that a team led by Maurizio Seracini has found evidence that the painting still exists on a hidden inner wall behind a cavity, underneath a section of Vasari’s fresco in the chamber.[1] The search was discontinued in September 2012, without any further progress having been made, due to conflict among the involved parties.

Source: The Battle of Anghiari (painting) – Wikipedia

The Virgin of the Rocks (sometimes the Madonna of the Rocks) is the name of two paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, of the same subject, and of a composition which is identical except for several significant details. The version generally considered the prime version, that is the earlier of the two, hangs in The Louvre in Paris and the other in the National Gallery, London. The paintings are both nearly 2 metres (over 6 feet) high and are painted in oils. Both were originally painted on wooden panel, but the Louvre version has been transferred to canvas.[1]

Both paintings show the Madonna and child Jesus with the infant John the Baptist and an angel, in a rocky setting which gives the paintings their usual name. The significant compositional differences are in the gaze and right hand of the angel. There are many minor ways in which the works differ, including the colours, the lighting, the flora, and the way in which sfumato has been used. Although the date of an associated commission is documented, the complete histories of the two paintings are unknown, and lead to speculation about which of the two is earlier.

Two further paintings are associated with the commission: side panels each containing an angel playing a musical instrument and completed by associates of Leonardo. These are both in the National Gallery, London.

Source: Virgin of the Rocks – Wikipedia

Source: Gentile da fabriano, adorazione dei magi – Adoration of the Magi (Gentile da Fabriano) – Wikipedia