Madonna of humility

A Madonna of humility or Virgin of humility is a depiction in art of the Virgin Mary sitting on the ground, or upon a low cushion. She usually holds the Christ Child in her lap, making it one form of the Madonna and Child. The iconography originated in the 14th century, and was most common in that and the following century.

Initially mostly using a gold ground style, when painted backgrounds came to be preferred in the 15th century, this pose is very common in images of the Virgin in a hortus conclusus or "enclosed garden", where the Virgin often sits on the flowery grass.