This painting is known as Madonna of the Rocks but is equally well known as the Virgin of the Rocks. The Madonna is sitting with the Christ child and St. John the Baptist as a child, accompanied by a beautiful angel complete with wings.

While living in Milan, Leonardo was commissioned to paint a scene for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, in the church of San Francesco Grande. The painting produced was one of the most intricate and intriguing religious scenes to date, and it evidently caused great commotion between the artist and its commissioners. Placing the (1485) Virgin Mary and the Christ child in a rocky cave was quite unconventional and controversial, and despite the painting's striking beauty, it seems that Leonardo may have been ordered to paint a new scene. The first version currently rests in the Louvre in Paris, while the (1508) later painting is housed in the National Gallery of Art in London. Most art historians agree that the first painting is a Leonardo original, but the second work was likely completed by Leonardo and several other artists. Click here to see revised painting.

Note the interesting rock formations in the backgound. These are several examples of phallic symbolism of which there are many, and at the top right of the painting is a peculiar rock formation forming the symbol "V" for the opposing element of feminism!

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