Madonna and Child with Angels

1465/1470

Sandro Botticelli

Painter, Florentine, 1446 - 1510

Shown from about the knees up, a woman, baby, and two angels crowd together in a narrow interior space pierced by three window openings. The people all have pale, peachy skin, blond hair, and translucent gold halos, and together they fill most of the space of this vertical painting. To our left, the woman perches on a pillow on a wooden chair as she holds the baby. The scrolling arm of the chair dips down to the seat in the lower left corner of the painting, and the black, scarlet-red, and gold pillow has a silver tassel dangling from the upper corner. The woman’s body is angled to our right, and she turns her head in profile to gaze down past the child with heavy-lidded eyes. Her forest-green cloak is lined with dark material where it turns back down the front. Short, cape-like drapery flutters across her shoulders and is decorated with gold bands along the hem. The cloak is held closed by a gold disk just below the neckline of the red gown underneath, which is belted with a thin gold band above the waist. Her hair is pulled back from her high forehead and is covered by a sheer white veil that frames her face and falls in folds to her shoulders. She steadies the plump baby so he is propped upright on her lap, facing her, with his feet resting on her belly. The baby reaches out to her with his right hand resting on her left shoulder, farther from us, while he turns to look up over his other shoulder, above us. A dove-gray cloth with rose-pink and white stripes is wrapped around his waist and drapes over his legs. To our right, the two angels stand with their bodies facing the child they help support. The angel closer to us turns back to look at or past us with brown eyes. That angel’s robe is rose red with a brighter, scarlet-red collar. The robe falls back to the elbow on the arm closer to us to reveal a cream-colored sleeve patterned with leaf-like strokes of pine green and earth brown. That hand is raised to delicately hold the hem of the baby’s wrap. The one wing we can see is brown and cranberry red, and is cut off by the right edge of the painting. The second angel stands at the back of the little group and looks up and off to our right with silver-gray eyes. That angel wears a pale lavender-gray robe and one hand supports the baby’s bottom. A small, scarlet-red disk is set into the angel’s hair over the forehead. A spray of white lilies angles from between the two angels along the right edge of the panel. The room the group occupies has light gray walls, some tinged with shell pink, and a sapphire-blue ceiling bordered with dark brown wood. A matching sapphire-blue, scalloped half-moon shape is set into the back wall. A garland of chestnut-brown leaves hangs from gold fittings to span the room near the ceiling. Portions of a stone building and watery blue sky are visible through the windows to either side and at the back of the room.

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 10

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil and tempera on poplar panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 86.7 x 57.8 cm (34 1/8 x 22 3/4 in.)
    overall (with edge strips): 89.2 x 60 cm (35 1/8 x 23 5/8 in.)
    framed: 137.2 x 101.6 cm (54 x 40 in.)

  • Accession

    1943.4.47

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Probably executed for a member of the Medici family.[1] In the later 19th century, possibly in private collections in Paris[2] and London.[3] (Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris), by 1914;[4] sold May 1925 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York).[5] Geneviève Garvan Brady [Mrs. Nicholas F. Brady, became in 1937 Mrs. William J. Babington Macauley], Manhasset, Long Island, New York, by 1932;[6] William J. Babington Macauley; on consignment from 1939 with (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York);[7] sold January 1942 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[8] gift 1943 to NGA.
[1] Whereas in similar compositions the armrest of Mary's throne has only a generic decoration, in NGA 1943.4.47 it bears what would seem to be the coat of arms of the Medici with six torteaux. As the king of France in 1465 permited Piero de' Medici to add to his coat of arms a seventh torteau decorated with fleurs de lis, its absence could indicate a terminus ante quem for the execution of the work. See Roy Brogan, A Signature of Power and Patronage: the Medici Coat of Arms, 1299-1492, Ph.D. diss., Florida State University, 1978 (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1981: 156).
[2] The 1885 sale catalogue of the collection of Baron E. de Beurnonville (Paris, Féral, Lasquin; c.p. Chevalier, 30-31 June 1885, no. 240) includes a painting, cited also in two earlier sales of the same collection in 1883 and 1884, described as "La Vierge aux anges avec fond de paysage" ("the Virgin with angels and a landscape background") and attributed to Filippo Lippi. The identity of the subject and the attribution match those that accompanied NGA 1943.4.47 when it was offered for sale by Sedelmeyer in Paris (see note 4) and suggests that the two listings may refer to the same painting, although the measurements given in the de Beurnonville catalogue (79 x 51 cm) are different.
[3] William Graham sale, London, Christie's, 8 April 1886, no. 261: "Virgin and Child with two angels," measurements given as 28 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches. H. Mireur (Dictionnaire des ventes d'art, Paris, 1911: 4:344) identifies this as the de Beurnonville painting.
[4] Hundred Masterpieces. A Selection from the Pictures by Old Masters which form or have formed part of the Sedelmeyer Gallery, Paris, 1914: no. 63.
[5] According to the X Book, Reel 422, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.
[6] Bernard Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, Oxford, 1932: 104, lists the painting with this ownership.
[7] See the letter of 13 November 1939 from Duveen to Macaulay (copy in NGA curatorial files; Box 529, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles).
[8] The bill of sale from Duveen Brothers, Inc. to the Kress Foundation is dated 13 January 1942 (copy in NGA curatorial files). See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1361.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1925

  • Cincinnati Art Museum, 1925 (according to the Duveen prospectus in NGA curatorial files; can not be confirmed).

1926

  • The Third Loan Exhibition of Old Masters. A Loan Exhibition from Detroit Private Collections, Detroit Institute of Arts, 1926, no. 6, as by Botticelli.

1946

  • Recent Additions to the Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no. 714.

2015

  • Money and Beauty: Botticelli and the Renaissance in Florence, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo; Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu-shi, 2015-2016, no. 54, repro. (shown only in Tokyo).

Bibliography

1914

  • Hundred Masterpieces of the Sedelmeyer Gallery. Paris, 1914: 132, no.63, repro., as by Fra Filippo Lippi.

1932

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932: 104, as by Botticelli.

1936

  • Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936: 90, as by Botticelli.

  • Gamba, Carlo. Botticelli. Milan, 1936: 87-88, pl. 3, as by Botticelli.

1938

  • Mesnil, Jacques. Botticelli. Paris, 1938: 194 n. 10.

1942

  • Bettini, Sergio. Botticelli. Milan, 1942: 6.

1944

  • Frankfurter, Alfred M. The Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1944: 30, repro., as by Botticelli.

  • Frankfurter, Alfred M. "Another Great Kress Gift to the National Gallery." Art News 42 (November 1-14, 1944): 21.

1945

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 54, repro., as by Botticelli.

  • [Borenius, Tancred]. “Editorial: The New Kress Gift to the National Gallery, Washington.” The Burlington Magazine 86, no. 504 (March 1945): 55.

  • Comstock, Helen. “A Gift of Italian Art to the National Gallery.” Connoisseur 102, no. 446 (June 1945): 104.

  • H. N. “Un’ altro donazione Kress di opere d’arti Italiana." Emporium 101 (1945): 93

1946

  • Podestà, Attilio. “Note e commenti.” Emporium 103 (1946): 195, repro., as by Botticelli.

1951

  • Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 49.

1955

  • Pucci, Emilio. Botticelli nella opera e nella vita del suo tempo. Milan, 1955: 64, as by Botticelli.

1958

  • Salvini, Roberto. Tutta la pittura del Botticelli, 2 vols. Milan, 1958: 1:67, pl. 126.

1962

  • Salvini, Roberto. “Note sul Botticelli.” In Valentino Martinelli and Filippa M. Aliberti, eds. Scritti di Storia dell’arte in onore di Mario Salmi, 3 vols. Rome, 1961-1963: 2(1962): 300.

1963

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Florentine School, 2 vols. London, 1963: 1:38, as by Botticelli.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 17.

  • Salvini, Roberto. All the Paintings of Botticelli, 4 vols. New York, 1965: 2:75, pl. 126.

1966

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 123, fig. 337.

1967

  • Mandel, Gabriel. The Complete Paintings of Botticelli. Milan and New York, 1967: 85, cat. 2, repro., as by Botticelli "with extensive collaboration."

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 10, repro.

  • Degenhart, Bernhard, and Annegrit Schmitt. Corpus der italienischen Zeichnungen 1300-1450, 1: Süd- und Mittelitalien. 4 vols. Berlin, 1968: 2, pt. 1:542.

1971

  • Zeri, Federico, with Elizabeth Gardner. Italian Paintings. A Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Florentine School. New York, 1971: 75, as by Botticelli.

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 34, as by Botticelli.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 38, repro.

1976

  • Laclotte, Michel, and Elisabeth Mognetti. Avignon, Musée du Petit Palais: peinture italienne. 2nd ed. Paris, 1976: under no. 39, as by Botticelli.

1977

  • Bellosi, Luciano. Il Museo dello Spedale degli Innocenti a Firenze. Florence, 1977: 234, as by Botticelli.

1978

  • Lightbown, Ronald. Botticelli: Life and Work. 2 vols. Berkeley, CA, 1978: 2:11-12, cat. A2.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:84-85; 2:pl. 56, as Studio of Botticelli.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 57, repro.

1988

  • Kecks, Ronald G. Madonna und Kind. Das häusliche Andachtsbild im Florenz des 15. Jahrhunderts. Berlin, 1988: 42, 71, 122, fig. 131, as Follower of Filippo Lippi.

1989

  • Pons, Nicoletta. Botticelli: catalogo completo. Milan, 1989: 53, cat. 2

1990

  • Caneva, Caterina. Botticelli: catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1990: 141, cat. 2A, repro.

1992

  • Petrioli Tofani, Annamaria, ed. Il disegno fiorentino del tempo di Lorenzo il Magnifico. Exh. cat. Galleria degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, Florence, 1992: 144, as by Botticelli.

2003

  • Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 146-151, color repro., as by Botticelli.

2005

  • Cecchi, Alessandro. Botticelli. Milan, 2005: 47, as Workshop of Filippo Lippi

  • Zöllner, Frank. Botticelli. Munich, London, and New York, 2005: 184, 273, cat. 90, repro., as Unknown Artist.

2006

  • Fahy, Everett. "Early Italian paintings in Washington and Philadelphia." The Burlington Magazine 148, no. 1241 (August 2006): 539, as by Botticelli.

2009

  • Acidini, Cristina, William Dello Russo, and Federico Poletti. Botticelli nel suo tempo. Milan, 2009: 16, as by Botticelli.

2010

  • Dumbrowski, Damian. Die religiösen Gemälde Sandro Botticellis: Malerei als pia philosophia. Berlin and Munich, 2010: 41 n. 13.

  • Filipponi, Stefano, Eleonora Mazzocchi, and Ludovica Sebregondi, eds. Il mercante, l'ospedale, i fanciulli. La donazione di Francesco Dataini, Santa Maria Nuova e la fondazione degli Innocenti. Exh. cat. Istituto degli Innocenti, Florence, 2010: 110.

2011

  • Sebregondi, Ludovica, and Tim Parks, eds. Money and Beauty: Bankers, Botticelli and the Bonfire of the Vanities. Exh. cat. Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 2011: 217.

2017

  • Spike, John T., and Alessandro Cecchi, eds. Botticelli and the Search for the Divine: Florentine Painting between the Medici and the Bonfires of the Vanities. Exh. cat. Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, VA; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2017: 93 n. 4, app. 7, fig. 3, as by Botticelli.

2021

  • Debenedetti, Ana. Botticelli: Artist and Designer. London, 2021: 96-97, fig. 32, as by Botticelli.

  • Debenedetti, Ana, and Pierre Curie, eds. Botticelli, artiste & designer. Exh. cat. Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris, 2021: 81, as by Botticelli.

2022

  • Acidini, Cristina. Botticelli. Pisa, 2022: 30, 31, as by Botticelli.

  • Daly, Christopher. “A new Florentine painter for the late Quattrocento: the Master of the Samaritan Woman (and a note on a forgotten tondo by Raffaellino del Garbo).” Colnaghi Studies Journal 11 (October 2022): 19 n. 9, as by Botticelli.

Wikidata ID

Q20173854

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