“The Mona Lisa of the Met” (Tomkins 9). This is what the painting of the Virgin and Child by Duccio di Buoninsegna is called today. “The Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased the Madonna and Child for forty-five to fifty million dollars” (Tomkins 1). However, the painting was not always in the hands of the public; in fact, the Met purchased Duccio's last known work in private hands. Originally, the painting was held in the private hands of Adolphe Stoclet and his wife. When the couple died, their house and their collection passed to their son Jacques who kept the painting and passed it on to his daughters who lent it to an exhibition in Siena by Duccio and his school. The painting was eventually removed from the exhibition and sold (Tomkins 2). The painting of the Virgin and Child dates from 1300 and was painted by Duccio di Buoninsegna, a Sienese painter considered the founder of modern Italian painting. I chose to research this painting because the subject of religious imagery and symbols interests me. Also because when I looked at the painting, the emotion on the Madonna's face almost jumped out at me. It is as if she was looking at her newborn with this deep sadness which almost makes one think that the painting foreshadows the death of Jesus Christ. Additionally, the burns on the side of the frame piqued my interest as to why they were there. Art critics were also interested in this work and even considered it one of Duccio's perfect works, and it was said to be worth all other paintings exhibited under Duccio's name (Christiansen 14). The iconography, imagery, emotional appeal to viewers and meaning of the painting of the Madonna and Child make this painting a great work of art even today...... middle of paper.......Eiland. Np: Georgia Museum of Art, 2000. Print. This book allowed me to verify that the Madonna and Child was painted by Duccio Di Buoninsegna and not by one of his students Stokstad, Marilyn and Michael Watt Cothren. History of the arts. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2014. Print. The textbook gave me information about 13th century culture and the meaning of some of Duccio's paintings. Stubblebine, James H. Duccio Di Buoninsegna and his school. Flight. 1. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1979. Print. I used this book to learn about Giotto and some other painters of the Tomkins, Calvin era. “The Missing Madonna.” The New Yorker. Ed. Calvin Tomkins. Calvin Tomkins, July 11, 2005. Web. October 1, 2013. . As an art critic, Calvin Tomkins gave prompting to the meaning of the paintings.