Madonna and Child with Angels
c. 1455/1470
Painter

Artwork overview
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Medium
tempera on poplar panel
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 53.5 x 36.2 cm (21 1/16 x 14 1/4 in.)
framed: 68.6 x 51.4 x 7 cm (27 x 20 1/4 x 2 3/4 in.) -
Accession
1939.1.115
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
(Stefano Bardini [1836-1922], Florence), by 1890.[1] (Leo Nardus [1868-1955], Suresnes, France, and New York), by 1910.[2] Marczell von Nemes [1866-1930], Munich and Budapest.[3] Private collection, Rome, by 1930.[4] (Count Alessandro Contini-Bonacossa, Rome); sold November 1932 to the Samuel H. Kress Collection, New York;[5] gift 1939 to NGA.
[1] Fiorenza Scalia and Cristina de Benedictis, Il Museo Bardini a Firenze, Milan, 1984: 125, pls. LXXIII, LXXIV, XCI.
[2] Salomon Reinach, Répertoire de peintures du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance (1280-1580), 6 vols., Paris, 1905-1923: 3(1910):462.
[3] Record of ownership noted in Kress collection records, in NGA curatorial files; see note 5.
[4] Adolfo Venturi, "Eine Madonna von Francesco del Cossa," Pantheon 5 (June 1930): 249-250.
[5] The bill for two paintings, one of them "Madonna, Child and Angels by Francesco del Cossa...From the collection of Baron von Nemes, Munich," is dated 1 November 1932 (copy in NGA curatorial records). See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1359.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
2007
Cosmè Tura e Francesco del Cossa. L'arte a Ferrara nell'età di Borso d'Este, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, 2007-2008, no. 94, repro., as by Francesco del Cossa.
Bibliography
1905
Reinach, Salomon. Répertoire de peintures du moyen âge et de la Renaissance (1280-1580). 6 vols. Paris, 1905-1923: 3(1910):462, as Paduan School.
1930
Venturi, Adolfo. "Eine Madonna von Francesco del Cossa." Pantheon 5 (1930): 249-250, repro., as by Francesco del Cossa.
1934
Longhi, Roberto. Officina Ferrarese. Rome, 1934: 46, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1936
Berenson, Bernard. Pitture Italiane del Rinascimento. Milan, 1936: 134, as by Francesco del Cossa.
Arslan, Edoardo. “Review of Roberto Longhi, Officina Ferrarese (1934).” Zeitschrift fur Kunstgeschichte 5 (1936): 178, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1941
Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 45, no. 226, as by Francesco del Cossa.
Ortolani, Sergio. Cosmé Tura, Francesco del Cossa, Ercole de'Roberti. Milan, 1941: 85, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1942
Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 244, repro. 88, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1945
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 76, fig. 226, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1950
Nicolson, Benedict. The Painters of Ferrara. London, 1950: 12, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1956
Longhi, Roberto. Officina ferrarese (1934), seguíta dagli Ampliamenti (1940) e dai Nuovi ampliamenti (1940-1955). Florence, 1956: 30, fig. 85, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1957
Ruhmer, Eberhard. “Review of Roberto Longhi, Officina Ferrarese (1956).” Zeitschrift fur Kustgeschichte 20 (1957): 91, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1958
Neppi, Alberto. Francesco Del Cossa. Milan, 1958: 11, repro., as doubtfully by Francesco del Cossa.
Volpe, Carlo. “Tre vetrate ferraresi e il Rinascimento a Bologna.” Arte Antica e Moderna 1 (1958): 24, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1959
Ruhmer, Eberhard. Francesco Del Cossa. Munich, 1959: 67, fig. 4, as by Francesco del Cossa.
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 114, repro., as by Francesco del Cossa.
1960
Frabetti, Giuliano. “Review of Alberto Neppi, Francesco del Cossa (1958).” Emporium 66 (1960): 191, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1961
Olsen, Harald. Italian Paintings and Sculpture in Denmark. Amsterdam, 1961: 55, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 32.
1966
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 85, fig. 235, as Attributed to Francesco del Cossa.
1967
Zeri, Federico. “Early Italian Pictures in the Kress Collection.” The Burlington Magazine 109 (August 1967): 477, as not by Francesco del Cossa, "in a style recalling that of a miniaturist, situated not far distant from what one takes to be the earliest period of Giovanni Francesco de' Maineri."
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 25, repro.
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:94, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1972
Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 56, 217, 645, as by Francesco del Cossa or an Unidentified Ferrarese Painter.
1974
Molajoli, Rosemarie. L'Opera completa di Cosmè Tura e i grandi pittori ferraresi del suo tempo: Francesco Cossa e Ercole de'Roberti. Milan, 1974: no. 71, repro., as by Francesco del Cossa.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 82, repro.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:143-144; 2:pl. 101, as Attributed to Francesco del Cossa.
1984
Scalia, Fiorenza, and Cristina de Benedictis. Il Museo Bardini: A Firenze. Milan, 1984: 125, pls. 73, 74, 91.
Bacchi, Andrea. “Vicende della pittura nell’eta di Giovanni II Bentivoglio.” In Bruno Basile, ed. Bentivolorum Magnificentia: Principe e cultura a Bologna nel Rinascimento. Rome, 1984: 294-295, fig. 4, as by Francesco del Cossa.
Benati, Daniele. “La pittura rinascimentale.” In Luciano Bellosi, ed. La Basilica di San Petronio in Bologna. 2 vols. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 1984: 2:158, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 101, repro., as Attributed to Francesco del Cossa.
1986
Bacchi, Andrea. "Francesco del Cossa." In Federico Zeri, ed. La pittura in Italia. Il Quattrocento. 2 vols. Milan, 1986: 2:603, as by Francesco del Cossa.
Bacchi, Andrea. “Tre artisti nella Bologna dei Bentivoglio: Appunti su una mostra.” Arte Cristiana 74, no. 715 (July – August 1986): 284, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1987
Lucco, Mauro. “La pittura a Bologna e in Romagna nel secondo Quattrocento.” In Federico Zeri, ed. La pittura in Italia. Il Quattroento. 2 vols. Milan, 1987: 1:242, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1988
Benati, Daniele. La bottega degli Erri e la pittura del Rinascimento a Modena. Modena, 1988: 52, 67, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1990
Manca, Joseph. “A Ferrarese Painter of the Quattrocento.” Gazette des Beaux-Arts 116, no. 1462 (1990): 157, 159, 160, 161, 164, 165, 168, fig. 4, as by Gherardo d’Andrea Costa (?).
Colección Cambó. Exh. cat. Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1990: 191,201-202, repro., as Attributed to Francesco del Cossa.
1991
Bacchi, Andrea. Francesco del Cossa. Soncino, 1991: 19-20, 23, 40, pl 1, as by Francesco del Cossa.
Molfino, Alessandra Mottola, and Mauro Natale, eds. Le Muse e il Principe: Arte di corte nel Rinascimento Padano. 2 vols. Exh. cat. Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan, 1991: 1:300, 302, fig. 327, 360, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1992
Manca, Joseph. The Art of Ercole de’ Roberti. Cambridge and New York, 1992: 174.
Conradi, Katja. "Cossa, Francesco del." In Saur. Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon. Die Bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker. Munich and Leipzig, 119 vols. Munich and Leipzig, 1992-2023: 21(1999):403.
1993
Lloyd, Christopher. Italian Paintings before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago. Princeton, 1993: 65.
Gagliardi, Jacques. La conquête de la peinture: L’Europe des ateliers du XIIIe au XVe siècle. Paris, 1993: 488, as by Francesco del Cossa.
1996
Lippincott, Kristen. “Francesco del Cossa.” In Jane Turner, ed. The Dictionary of Art. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 7:924, fig. 1, as by Francesco del Cossa.
2000
Fahy, Everett. Dipinti, disegni, miniature, stampe: L'Archivio storico fotografico di Stefano Bardini. Florence, 2000: 36, no. 232, as Attributed to Francesco del Cossa.
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: 261-265, color repro.
Sgarbi, Vittorio. Francesco del Cossa. Milan, 2003: 31 repro., 52, 221, 222-223, cat. 1, 234, as by Francesco del Cossa.
2005
Cavalca, Cecilia. “Francesco del Cossa e Firenze: tre ricami e la pala con l’Annunciazione di Dresda.” Nuovi Studi 11 (2005): 44, as by Francesco del Cossa.
2006
Fahy, Everett. "Early Italian paintings in Washington and Philadelphia." The Burlington Magazine 148, no. 1241 (August 2006): 539 n. 5.
2007
Cavalca, Cecilia. “Francesco del Cossa tra Ferrara, Firenze e Bologna.” In Mauro Natale, ed. Cosmè Tura e Francesco del Cossa. L’arte a Ferrara nell’età di Borso d’Este. Exh. cat. Palazzo dei Diamanti and Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara, 2007: 367-368, repro., as by Francesco del Cossa.
Natale, Mauro, and Giovanni Sassu. “In mostra.” In Mauro Natale, ed. Cosmè Tura e Francesco del Cossa. L’arte a Ferrara nell’età di Borso d’Este. Exh. cat. Palazzo dei Diamanti and Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara, 2007: 51, as by Francesco del Cossa.
2010
Rowley, Neville. “Pittura di luce: La manière claire dans la peinture du Quattrocento.” Ph.D. Diss., Université Paris-Sorbonne, 2010: 160-161, fig. 263, as by Francesco del Cossa.
2016
Paolucci, Antonio, et al, eds. Piero della Francesca: Indagine su un mito. Exh. cat. Museo San Domenico, Forlì, 2016: 138, as by Francesco del Cossa.
2023
Danieli, Michele. “Rinascimento padano.” In Vittorio Sgarbi and Michele Danieli, eds. Rinascimento a Ferrara. Ercole de’ Roberti e Lorenzo Costa. Exh. cat. Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, 2023: 63, as by Francesco del Cossa.
Danieli, Michele. “L’esordio di Ercole a Ferrara.” In Vittorio Sgarbi and Michele Danieli, eds. Rinascimento a Ferrara. Ercole de’ Roberti e Lorenzo Costa. Exh. cat. Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, 2023: fig. 20, as by Francesco del Cossa.
Wikidata ID
Q20173720