Giovanni Bellini painted a lot of Madonnas and children in his day.

His workshop became famous painting the mother-son duo. Anyone who could afford a Bellini and needed a new Madonna and Child would go straight to his studio. The Italian Renaissance master basically created a painting store for Catholics. 

This painting was once famously owned by Ludwig Wittgenstein. Even though he mostly dealt with mathematical philosophy, the Austrian philosopher had a lot to say about aesthetics. He believed that ethics and aesthetics were the same thing, and that only art could show us what we truly need to think about, as a human race. Art = truth. This painting must have kept him company as he thought about the nature of absolute beauty.

The Wittgenstein Madonna and Child is a half-portrait. In the 15th century, the half-portrait had become increasingly fashionable in Venice. They were smaller and meant for private prayers. It was a piece of Church you could carry with you. Sure, you had rosaries for that, but these half-portraits were way cooler. I mean, a Bellini in your pocket and you have something in common with the Wittgenstein family.

This isolated Madonna could be in a dungeon for all we know. They don’t really look like they’re out in the sun enjoying Jesus’ childhood. Bellini may have had mommy issues, which could explain why the dynamic duo appear static and locked away. The Virgin Mary worried about what the world was going to do to her child. Turns out, she was right to stress.