From luminous Russian and Byzantine icons to works by Italian Renaissance and Dutch asters, the thirty paintings in this book of postcards tenderly portray the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. Included are works from the fourteenth through the seventeenth centuries by Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Palma il Vecchio, Jan Provost, Joos van Cleve, and many other worldwide favorites. These classic paintings are from the heralded collections of The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, which are housed in lavish quarters in the historic heart of the city.