Botticelli Virgin and Child

This Virgin and Child after Botticelli is a gold-plated christening medal: Mary lowers her eyes to her son, who looks at her and reaches a hand towards her face, beneath two beaded halos.

A Virgin and Child beneath two beaded halos

What strikes first are the two halos, rimmed with beads, which overlap above the faces. Mary, a veil held on her brow, inclines her head, her eyes lowered to her son; the Child, seated against her, raises his gaze and rests his hand on her neck. All of Botticelli is in this exchange of glances, the mother's downwards, the child's upwards, crossing without quite meeting: fifteenth-century Florence invented this way of painting maternal love with a touch of gravity. Our sculptor kept that nuance in the relief.

Mayaud gold plate

This medal is made in Mayaud gold plate: a French-made solid gilded brass base, struck under the same engraved die as the gold version, covered with a 3-micron layer of 18-karat (750/1000) gold. Made in our Paris workshop.

Diameter, engraving and variations

Offered in 18 mm, the classic size. The smooth reverse takes an engraving, first name and date, carried out in the workshop with the engraving package. This Virgin and Child after Botticelli is also available in solid yellow gold, in gold and mother-of-pearl and in solid silver; see also the Botticelli Madonna, the Child's hand on her cheek.