the madonna and child or the virgin and child is often the name of a work of art which shows the virgin mary and the child jesus. the word "madonna" means "my lady" in italian. artworks of the christ child and his mother mary are part of the roman catholic tradition in many parts of the world including italy, spain, portugal, france, south america, switzerland, and the philippines. paintings known as icons are also an important tradition of the orthodox church and often show the mary and the christ child. they are found particularly in eastern europe, russia, egypt, the middle east and india.