Leonardo da VinciItalian, 1452–1519Madonna Litta
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Madonna Litta” now? State Hermitage Museum, Room 214, Saint Petersburg. Yes, on view now. Checked August 29, 2026.
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Closed· opens tomorrow at 12:00 PM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
The Madonna Litta is a late 15th-century painting, by Leonardo da Vinci, in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. It depicts the Virgin Mary breastfeeding the Christ child, a devotional subject known as the Madonna lactans. The figures are set in a dark interior with two arched openings, as in Leonardo's earlier Madonna of the Carnation, and a mountainous landscape in aerial perspective can be seen beyond. In his left hand Christ holds a goldfinch, which is symbolic of his future Passion.
Scholarly opinion is divided on the work's attribution, with some believing it to be the work of a pupil of Leonardo such as Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio or Marco d'Oggiono; the Hermitage Museum, however, considers the painting to be an autograph work by Leonardo. The painting takes its name from the House of Litta, a Milanese noble family in whose collection it was for much of the nineteenth century.
Museum text in Russian
Картина исполнена, очевидно, в Милане, куда художник переехал в 1482 г. Она относится к числу произведений, появление которых ознаменовало новый этап в ренессансном искусстве - утверждение стиля Высокого Возрождения. Прекрасная женщина, кормящая младенца, предстает олицетворением материнской любви как величайшей человеческой ценности. Композиция картины лаконична и уравновешенна. Фигуры Марии и младенца Христа моделированы тончайшей светотенью. В проемах симметричных окон открывается бескрайний горный пейзаж, напоминая о гармонии и грандиозности мироздания. Картина поступила в 1865 г. из миланского собрания герцога Антонио Литта, с именем которого связано ее второе название. Подготовительный рисунок к эрмитажному полотну хранится в Париже в Лувре.
State Hermitage Museum
Details
- Accession number
- ГЭ-249
In the catalog
Sources
- State Hermitage Museum
- Image: State Hermitage Museum — Museum open access
In the life of Leonardo da Vinci
The whole life1482–1500 · Workplace
Milan
1482–1500
Employed by: Ludovico Sforza
1490
Salaì joins his household
Salaì — “the little unclean one”, that is, the devil — entered Leonardo's household as an assistant. Within a year Leonardo called him “a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton”, yet treated him with great indulgence, and Salaì stayed in his household for the next thirty years.
1490
Consultant on the cathedral of Pavia
Together with Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Leonardo was called in as a consultant on the building site of Pavia Cathedral, where he was struck by the equestrian statue of the Regisole and left a sketch of it.
![Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/ff62e8d0-45c4-498f-ad36-6358de827e04/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/8f29e3c9-a289-4d53-abf0-31a66e9e98fa/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
