New Delhi, June 17 -- A rare 15th-century rendition of "Madonna and Child" by Sandro Botticelli is being showcased in India for the first time, anchoring an exhibition that explores cross-civilizational depictions of motherhood. The showcase, titled "One Mother, Many Mother Tongues," opens at Delhi's Humayun's Tomb Museum on June 22. A special preview of the 1490 tempera-on-wood masterpiece - one of at least 30 renditions of the subject Botticelli painted during his lifetime - is currently ongoing at the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre. In this version, the Virgin Mary is shown carefully holding infant Jesus, who appears introspective and unusually aware. Botticelli often painted the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus in many different scenes and forms. Curated by Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Naman Ahuja and Italian Embassy Cultural Centre director Andrea Anastasio, the exhibition traces the mother-and-child motif across millennia. Displays range from Botticelli's Early Renaissance work to Indian sculptures dating from the 16th century BC to the 11th century. The collection also features a second- or third-century sculpture of the Buddhist fertility goddess Hariti from Skarah Dheri in present-day Peshawar, Pakistan....