The Small Cowper Madonna

c. 1505

Raphael

Artist, Marchigian, 1483 - 1520

A woman and nude child, both with pale skin, sit in front of a deep landscape in this vertical painting. Shown from about the knees up, the woman’s body is angled slightly to our right, and she supports the baby under his bottom with her left hand, on our right. She wears a long-sleeved, crimson-red dress with a sheer, nearly translucent fabric around her shoulders. Fern-green drapery, nearly matching the color of the grassy landscape, is gathered behind her hips, and a deep lapis-blue cloth lies across her lap. Her blond hair is pulled back. She has a straight nose, rosy cheeks, and her pink lips are closed. Her head tilts to our left, and she gazes down and to our right with brown eyes. Her right hand, on our left, rests in her lap, and she holds the baby with her other hand. The blond baby half sits, half stands on the woman’s lap so one foot rests on the hand in the woman’s lap. He reaches his arms around her neck and turns to look over his left shoulder, also gazing down and to our right. Thin, gold halos above their heads are barely visible against the pale blue sky. An expanse of green grass extends behind the pair leading to a cluster of trees to our left and buildings on a distant hill to our right. Hazy blue hills line the horizon in the distance below a blue, nearly cloudless sky.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 20

Order reproductions from the Gallery Shop

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 59.5 x 44 cm (23 7/16 x 17 5/16 in.)
    framed: 86.2 x 71.4 x 8.3 cm (33 15/16 x 28 1/8 x 3 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.57

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Anonymous collection or dealer, Florence, sold c. 1780 to George Nassau Clavering-Cowper, 3rd Earl Cowper [1738-1789], Florence; by inheritance to George Augustus Clavering-Cowper, 4th Earl Cowper [d. 1799]; by inheritance to Peter Leopold Louis Francis Nassau Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper [d. 1837], Panshanger, Hertford, England; by inheritance to George Augustus Frederick Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper [d. 1856], Panshanger; by inheritance to Francis Thomas De Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper and 7th Baron Lucas [d. 1905], Panshanger and Wrest Park, Bedford, England; by inheritance to his widow, Katrine Cecilia Compton Cowper, Countess Cowper [d. 1913], Panshanger; by inheritance to Lady Ethel Desborough, granddaughter of the 6th Earl, Panshanger; sold 1913 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold 1914 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1816

  • Possibly Pictures of the Italian and Spanish Schools, British Institution, London, 1816, no. 32, as The Virgin and Infant Savior.

1841

  • Possibly British Institution, London, 1841, no. 28, as Virgin and Child.

1857

  • Art Treasures of the United Kingdom: Paintings by Ancient Masters, Art Treasures Palace, Manchester, 1857, no. 136.

1881

  • Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1881, no. 148.

1909

  • National Loan Exhibition in Aid of National Gallery Funds, Grafton Galleries, London, 1909-1910, no. 70, repro.

  • A Collection of Pictures of the Umbrian School and Other Works of Art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1909, no. 37A.

1924

  • Loan Exhibition of Important Early Italian Paintings in the Possession of Notable American Collectors, Duveen Brothers, New York, 1924, no. 6 (no. 21 in illustrated 1926 version of catalogue).

1983

  • Raphael and America, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1983, no. 63, repro.

2009

  • Raffaelo e Urbino. La formazione giovanile e i rapporti con la città natale, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino, 2009, no. 42, repro.

2010

  • Loan for display with permanent collection, Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, 2010-2011.

2015

  • Raphael Confronts Raphael?, Worcester Art Museum, 2015, no catalogue.

Bibliography

1916

  • Berenson, Bernard, and William Roberts. Pictures in the Collection of P.A.B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early Italian and Spanish Schools. Philadelphia, 1916: unpaginated, repro.

1923

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro.

1930

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R., ed. Unknown Masterpieces in Public and Private Collections. London, 1930: n.p., pl. 19.

1931

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 148, repro.

1935

  • Tietze, Hans. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935: 78, repro. (English ed., Masterpieces of European Painting in America. New York, 1939: 78, repro.).

1937

  • Jewell, Edward Alden. "Mellon's Gift." Magazine of Art 30, no. 2 (February 1937): 82.

1941

  • Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 134, repro.

1942

  • Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 6.

1944

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 44, color repro.

1948

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 16, repro.

1951

  • Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 56-58, repro.

1957

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 34.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 132, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 107.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:126, color repro.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 95, repro.

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:355.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 282, repro.

1978

  • King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 28, pl. 8.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:396-397; 2:pl. 281.

1982

  • Oberhuber, Konrad. Raffaello. Milan, 1982:38-42, no. 42, repro.

  • Pedretti, Carlo. Raffaello. Bologna, 1982: 29.

1983

  • Cuzin, Jean-Pierre. Raphaël: vie et oeuvre. Fribourg, 1983:74, repro.

  • Jones, Roger and Nicholas Penny. Raphael. New Haven and London, 1983: 207-208, repro.

  • Knab, Eckhart, Erwin Mitsch and Konrad Oberhuber. Raphael: Die Zeichnungen. Stuttgart, 1983: 91-92.

  • Mulazzani, Germano. Raffaello. Milan, 1983:38+, repro.

  • Brown, David Alan. "Raphael's 'Small Cowper Madonna' and the 'Madonna of the Meadow:' Their Technique and Leonard Sources." Artibus et Historiae 8 (1983):9-26, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 174, no. 197, color repro.

  • Dalli Regoli, Gigetta. La preveggenza della vergine. Struttura, stile, iconografia nelle Madonna del Cinquecento. Pisa, 1984: 19

  • Raffaello a Firenze. Exh. cat. Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 1984:43.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 326, repro.

  • Ford, Brinsley. "Pictures lost to the Nation." NACF Magazine 29 (Christmas 1985): 14, 17, repro. 20.

1986

  • Christensen, Carol. "Examination and Treatment of Paintings by Raphael at the National Gallery of Art." Studies in the History of Art 17 (1986):47-48, 50-52, repro.

  • Merrill, Ross M. "Examination and Treatment of the Small Cowper Madonna by Raphael at the National Gallery of Art." Studies in the History of Art 17 (1986):139-147, repro.

  • Gombrich, E. H. New Light on Old Masters. Studies in the Art of the Renaissance 4. Oxford, 1986: 117-118, repro.

1987

  • Walker, Richard W. "American's Imperial Collector's." Art News 86 (November 1987):157.

  • Ettlinger, Leopold D. and Helen S. Raphael. Oxford, 1987:48-51, repro.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 195.

  • Morandotti, Alessandro. "La fortuna collezionistica della pittura gotica e rinascimentale fra Ottocento e Novecento." In Mauro Natale, ed. Pittura italiana dal '300 al '500. Milan, 1991: 39, fig. 13.

1992

  • Penny, Nicholas. "Raphael's 'Madonna dei garofani' rediscovered." The Burlington Magazine 134 (February 1992): 73-74, repro.

  • Brown, David Alan. "Raphael, Leonardo, and Perugino: Fame and Fortune in Florence." In Serafina Hager, ed. Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael in Renaissance Florence from 1500-1508. Washington, DC, 1992:37-38, 47-48, 51, n.22, repro.

1994

  • Beck, James H. Raphael. New Yokl, 1994: 22.

1995

  • Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New York, 1995: 686, fig. 18-5.

1996

  • Meyer zur Capellen, Jürg. _ Raphael in Florence_. London, 1996: 154, no.93-96, repro.

1999

  • Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. 2 vols. Revised ed. New York, 1999: 694, fig. 18-14.

2000

  • Kirsh, Andrea, and Rustin S. Levenson. Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies. Materials and Meaning in the Fine Arts 1. New Haven, 2000: 9-10, fig. 4, 160-161, fig. 162, 191-192, fig. 202-203.

2001

  • Meyer zur Capellen, Jürg. Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of His Paintings. Landshut, 2001:no. 23, repro.

2002

  • Quodbach, Esmée. "The Last of the American Versailles: The Widener Collection at Lynnewood Hall." Simiolus 29, no. 1/2 (2002): 43, 73, 81, 85-86, 95, fig. 2.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 82, no. 57, color repro.

2006

  • Hartt, Frederick, and David G. Wilkins. History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, 2006: 482, color fig. 16.45.

2010

  • Holler, Manfred J., and Barbara Klose-Ullmann. "Art Goes America." Journal of Economic Issues 44, no. 1 (March 2010): 103.

2011

  • Pergam, Elizabeth A. The Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition of 1857: Entrepreneurs, Connoisseurs and the Public. Farnham and Burlington, 2011: figs. 4.6 and 4.9, 155, 215-216, 226, 233 n. 109, 312.

2013

  • Harris, Neil. Capital Culture: J. Carter Brown, the National Gallery of Art, and the Reinvention of the Museum Experience. Chicago and London, 2013: 465.

2016

  • Jaques, Susan. The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia. New York, 2016: 398.

2023

  • Kondziella, Martha. Sodoma: Die Tafel- und Leinwanbilder. Merzhausen, 2023: 174-175.

  • Sorrentino, Vincenzo. “Un esercizio di provenance: la Madonna Del Riccio-Cowper e un presunto autoritratto giovanile di Raffaello.” Accademia Raffaello. Atti e studi 22 (2023): 9-15, figs. 1, 2.

  • Humfrey, Peter. “The Picture Collection of the Earls Cowper at Panshanger.” Artibus et Historiae 44, no. 88 (2023): 210, 214, 226, 235, 251, 261, figs. 4, 52 (in a view of the Picture Gallery at Panshanger), 55.

Wikidata ID

Q2607050

You may be interested in

Loading Results