The Madonna of the Rose Garden (Italian: Madonna del Roseto) is a Gothic painting attributed to Michelino da Besozzo or Stefano da Verona

Stefano da Verona

Stefano da Verona was an Italian painter who was active in Verona.He was the son of the French painter Jean d'Arbois, who had come to Italy at the court for Gian Galeazzo Visconti after working for Philip II of Burgundy. He likely apprenticed at Pavia in the workshops of illuminators of the Visconti...

. Dating to c. 1420-1435, it is currently housed in the Castelvecchio Museum

Castelvecchio Museum

Castelvecchio Museum is a museum in Verona, northern Italy, located in the eponymous medieval castle. Restoration by the architect Carlo Scarpa, between 1959 and 1973, has enhanced the appearance of the building and exhibits...

 of Verona

Verona

Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...

, northern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Description

The painting shows the traditional theme of the Madonna with Child within an enclosure of roses, a symbol of her alleged virginity, in the presence of St. Catherine of Alexandria. The latter, according to her princely status, is crowned, and is accompanied by her martyrdom attribute of the torture wheel. There are also numerous slender angels. They are performing a series of activities: reading (a hint to the religious text

Religious text

Religious texts, also known as scripture, scriptures, holy writ, or holy books, are the texts which various religious traditions consider to be sacred, or of central importance to their religious tradition...

s), collecting petals of rose, playing near a Gothic font (symbolizing the definition of Mary as Fons gratiae, "Spring of Grace").

Two peacocks are roaming in the garden: they are a symbol of the immortality of Christ since early Christian times, when their flesh was considered not liable to rot.

The work has been attributed to both Stefano da Verona or Michelino da Besozzo, with the more recent scholars tending to favor the latter.