The Madonna of the Rabbit is a painting by Italian master Titian. It was commissioned in 1527 for the Charterhouse of Venice. In this celestial composition with a Renaissance conception, the infant Christ is shown as a young boy coming to earth through a hole in his mothers side, supported by Saint John the Baptist. The Child holds a white flower, an albino rabbit and an egg that he hands over to the blessed saints.
This painting of the Madonna, with the Child sitting on her lap, was part of a cycle of paintings depicting the Virgin, each holding an object symbolic of one of the Seven Sorrows she endured for her son and for humankind. These paintings show the different forms taken by Jesus in his lifetime; as a baby in his mother's arms, and as a boy at school. Titian encounters in this work certain physical characteristics reminiscent of Leonardo and also uses his typical tact in rendering fabrics. The Virgin's hands and eyes seem to suggest that she is thinking of Christ's sufferings. The painting was formerly attributed to Palma il Vecchio.
