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Without thinking about the spectator, Mother and Son are based on a compact block of rythmical inner curves. The Virgin maintains between her arms to the anxious Boy, who, returned from backs, fixes to Her his glance, looking for with her right manita the maternal chest, while she raises with the left the veil is transparent that she falls of the gilded hair of Maria.
The composition of the painting may possibly be traced to an engraving by Dürer, but the influence of Italian Mannerism is very strongly felt in the delicate elongation of the neck, the tapering of the fingers, the Leonardo-like softness of the features, the sweet expression reminiscent of Raphael and the use of large blocks of strong colour for the garments. And even if most of Morales's painting does not rise above the average standard achieved by his contemporaries, the variants of Virgin and Child demonstrate an engaging and pleasant handling which justifies the attribute so generally conferred upon him: El Divino, the 'Divine' Morales.
From :http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG2609
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