Madonna and Child by Michelangelo

The Madonna and Child statue sits opposite the altar in the Medici Chapel, flanked by statues of the Medici family's patron saints, Cosmas and Damian, which were not carved by Michelangelo. Madonna and Child is a larger work than the two saints beside it, and the figures of the two dukes, because it was originally designed to go on the double tomb of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano. It was abandoned when Michelangelo returned to Rome and the marks of his chisel are still clear.

The Madonna is seated with her left leg crossed over her right, leaning back on her right arm as if to counterbalance the weight of her struggling child. She shares the same resigned, despondent expression as the Madonna of the Pieta. She stares sadly past her son towards the floor, almost appearing unaware of the child. The child turns in his mother's lap so that his face cannot be seen. This is a symbolic pose inferring that Jesus hides his face so that he does not see the mortality that surrounds him in this funeral chapel.