Explore the Description and style of this artwork, Madonna of the Basket (Rubens).
The basket that gives the work its traditional name is, in reality, the wicker cradle in which the baby Jesus rests, watched over by Mary and Joseph. He tenderly caresses the face of John the Baptist, recognizable by the fur coat of a desert hermit. Behind him stands his mother, Saint Elizabeth. Joseph's mature, but not old, age suggests he was made to seem more like a saint. 
Inspired by Italian works, the work is marked by the influence of Parmigianino, in the face of Mary. The fluid disposition of the people, the mastery of color and effects of brushstrokes, and the characterization of the people (like the resplendent hair, the opacity of Joseph's beard, and the material effect in the carpet under the baby Jesus) make this a small masterpiece that exemplifies the best work of Rubens. 
It is one of the better compositions on this religious subject realized around 1615, along with the painting at the Wallace Collection in London, which is dated to c. 1614.
Wallace Collection Parmigianino John the Baptist