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WILLIAM DYCE (1806-64)
The Madonna and Child
Signed and dated 1845RCIN 403745
Queen Victoria considered this painting 'most beautiful … so chaste, & exquisitely painted', and indeed admired it so much that she made a pastel copy of the upper half of the composition. The Madonna reads from a passage in the Old Testament book of Isaiah referring to the stock of Jesse, whilst the Child points to her as the origin of the Messiah.
Purchased by Prince Albert, 1845
