Madonna of the Strawberries

The Upper Rhenish Master's Madonna of the Strawberries is one of the most celebrated works of the International Gothic in the German-speaking world, likely produced around 1410–1420 in the Lake Constance or Basel region. The enclosed garden (hortus conclusus) in which the Virgin sits nursing the Christ child is a Marian symbol derived from the Song of Songs, and the strawberries, birds, and other naturalistically observed plants carry specific Marian and theological symbolism. The painting's extraordinary freshness of colour and the delight in botanical observation make it a landmark of late Gothic painting.

The work is painted in tempera on a very small panel, with the meticulous attention to botanical detail that characterises Upper Rhenish miniature production translated into panel format. Strawberry plants, roses, and irises are rendered with the precision of a herbarium illustration. The gold ground is suppressed by the dense vegetal environment, unusual for the period. Figures are modelled with soft, rounded forms characteristic of the Upper Rhenish International Gothic style.