Madonna with Cherubim in Milan's Brera: from Bellini to Mantegna

"Madonna with Cherubim" was long considered the work of Giovanni Bellini, until in 1885, during restoration, features characteristic of his chief rival, and incidentally his relative, Andrea Mantegna, came to light. What misled viewers was a softness uncharacteristic of Mantegna.

Despite the established title, the Madonna and Child are surrounded not only by cherubim but also by seraphim, which in this iconographic tradition are distinguished by red and bluish-grey wings. The cherubim have blue wings, the seraphim fiery, red ones. Indeed, from the Hebrew, their very name means "the burning ones".

Today the work is kept in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.