What is the title of Leonardo's painting of the Virgin Mary and Jesus in a rocky grotto?
Answer
Virgin of the Rocks
Answer
Virgin of the Rocks
What is the title of Leonardo’s painting of the Virgin Mary and Jesus in a rocky grotto? Virgin of the Rocks.
Virgin of the Rocks is the usual English title for Leonardo da Vinci’s celebrated composition of the Virgin Mary and Christ child in a rugged, imaginary landscape. The scene also includes the infant John the Baptist and an angel, arranged in a balanced pyramidal group among rocks, plants, water, and distant mountains.
There are two principal versions. The earlier Louvre version was painted around 1483–1486 and is generally regarded as the prime version. A second version, now in London’s National Gallery, was produced later, around 1495–1508, with differences in gestures, gaze, color, lighting, and details of the landscape.
The painting is also called Madonna of the Rocks, so that phrase is a common alternate title rather than a different work. It should not be confused with Adoration of the Magi, another unfinished Leonardo project, or with the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, his better-known portraits and mural. Leonardo’s atmospheric modeling and sfumato are especially evident in the rocky setting.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026