| Madonna with Writing Child | |
| Artist: | Pinturicchio |
| Year: | c. 1494-1498 |
| Medium: | Oil on panel |
| Height Metric: | 61 |
| Width Metric: | 41.6 |
| Metric Unit: | cm |
| Imperial Unit: | in |
| City: | Philadelphia |
| Museum: | Philadelphia Museum of Art |
The Madonna with the Christ Child Writing is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Pinturicchio, painted around 1494-1498 and housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in the United States.
The painting is derived from the Madonna of Peace (c. 1490), a simplification for a less acculturated commissioner, perhaps a private family. The Virgin sits on a kind of cask, and is offering a book to the Child, who writes on it. The garments of the Child are perhaps inspired by the late Byzantine mosaics seen by Pinturicchio in Rome.
In the background is a small depiction of the Flight into Egypt and two symmetrical trees, one which is a palm, a symbol of martyrdom.
. Cristina Acidini . Pintoricchio. Pittori del Rinascimento. Scala. Florence . 2004. 88-8117-099-X.