The Virgin with the Child, with Cherries and a Cherry Tree in the Background

This Virgin with Child and cherries attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, around 1486 and now at Christ Church Oxford, is one of many Madonnas associated with Leonardo's Milanese circle. The cherry, symbolizing the blood of Christ's future Passion, adds theological depth to the tender domestic scene — a characteristic Leonardo device for layering visible subject matter with deeper spiritual significance. Leonardo da Vinci approached painting as a vehicle for scientific inquiry, bringing unprecedented psychological depth and his sfumato atmospheric modeling to each composition, and his influence in Milan generated a workshop production in which his ideas and techniques were transmitted to numerous followers. The softly modeled faces and the Leonardesque aerial perspective of the landscape background connect this work to the visual language of the workshop even if the exact attribution remains debated by scholars.

The sfumato modeling of the faces demonstrates the soft, atmospheric technique Leonardo developed in Milan. The landscape background dissolves into blue-grey distance with characteristic Leonardesque aerial perspective.