The Virgin and Child with Saint John and an Angel

What you see

Three half-length figures fill the circle. The Virgin, at the center and facing front, looks straight at us as she cradles the Child, who nestles against her breast to nurse. On the left, Saint John, with long hair, joins his hands and lowers his eyes; on the right, an angel in an orange robe holds a white cloth.

The halos are golden discs seen in perspective, like tilted plates. The blue of the mantle dominates the lower half, and the background is pale and almost plain. Notice the Virgin’s hands, one under the Child’s shoulders and the other beneath his legs, and the folds of the cloth the angel is holding.