Madonna and Child

c. 1440

Fra Filippo Lippi

Painter, Florentine, c. 1406 - 1469

A woman supports a pudgy baby who sits on a stone ledge in this vertical painting. They both have pale skin, rosy cheeks, blond hair, and subtle halos made of gold dots. The woman’s body faces us, and her head tips to our left. She looks at us with brown eyes under delicate brows, and she has a straight nose, full cheeks, and her small, bow-shaped lips are slightly parted. A translucent white veil wraps around her hair and falls to her shoulders. Her rose-pink dress is pleated vertically down the front, and her lapis-blue cloak falls from her shoulders. Gold lettering lines the neckline of the dress and the full sleeves of the cloak. A gold star is painted on her right shoulder, to our left, and gold dots create shimmering highlights on her clothing. She braces the baby’s chest with one hand, and the other rests behind the forest-green pillow on which he sits. The child has small, light brown eyes, a delicate nose, and round cheeks. A white cloth wraps around his chest and falls across his lap. He holds onto the woman’s hand with one of his own, and his other hand grips the woman’s ring finger. The woman stands behind the ledge in front of a carved, round-topped niche. The niche is inset with laurel-green stone around a half shell that curves over her head. The upper corners and back of the niche below the shell are set with pink stone against the white molding.

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 4


Artwork overview

  • Medium

    tempera on poplar panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 79 x 51.1 cm (31 1/8 x 20 1/8 in.)
    framed: 117.2 x 85.4 x 9.5 cm (46 1/8 x 33 5/8 x 3 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1939.1.290


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Edward Solly [1776-1844], Berlin, by 1819;[1] sold 1821 to the Königliche Museen (later Kaiser-Friedrich Museum), Gemäldegalerie, Berlin (until 1840 as no. I.165, afterward as no. 58); deaccessioned and sold 1937 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[2] sold June 1938 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1939 to NGA.
[1] It does not appear that the painting was ever in London, as is sometimes affirmed. In fact, it was not part of Edward Solly's second collection, put together after his move to London in 1821. His first collection was formed in Berlin, probably beginning in 1813 (see Maria Dietl, "The Picture Gallery of Berlin: The Formation of the Solly Collection," Giovanni Morelli e la cultura dei conoscitori. Atti del Convegno internazionale, Bergamo 1987, Bergamo, 1993: 49-59). Onto the back of the painting has been transferred an old label with the Prussian eagle, the letters T.N., and the number 27. This mark, whose precise meaning has not yet been clarified, is often seen on the labels attached to the backs of paintings coming from the Solly collection, and probably originated at the time of the preparation of the "Vorläufiges Verzeichnis" of 1819; see Wilhelm H. Köhler, "Die Sammlung Solly, Merkmale und Kennzeichen ihrer Bilder," in Miklós Boskovits, Gemäldegalerie Berlin. Katalog der Gemälde. Frühe italienische Malerei, Berlin, 1987: 185-186.
[2] No. 58 is cited for the last time in a publication of the Berlin museum in Irene Kunze, Staatliche Museen in Berlin. Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum. Führer durch die Gemäldegalerie. Die italienischen Meister, Berlin, 1934: 17. By the mid-1930s the Berlin museum evidently wished to acquire some German paintings that were no longer in that country. This desire was referenced in a letter written by Duveen Brothers on 26 February 1937 to the director of the paintings department at the Berlin museum, offering to him the Portrait of a Man with Lute by Hans Holbein (now no. 2154 in Berlin, then “said to be …of Jean de Dinteville,” from Henry Goldman’s collection in New York) in exchange for two paintings in Berlin, this painting and another NGA painting, Duccio's The Nativity with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekial (NGA 1937.1.8). (Copy of the letter and an office memo in NGA curatorial files; Reel 48, Box 139, Folder 4 and Reel 189, Box 334, Folder 2, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.) The date of de-accession is also given by Robert Oertel, Fra Filippo Lippi, Vienna, 1942: 75.
[3] The Duveen Brothers letter confirming the sale of eight paintings, including NGA 1939.1.290, is dated 21 June 1938; the provenance is given as "The Kaiser Friedrich Museum" (copy in NGA curatorial files; Box 474, Folder 5, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles). See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1330.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2013

  • Da Donatello a Lippi: Officina pratese, Museo Civico di Palazzo Pretorio, Prato, 2013-2014, no. 4.4, repro.

2021

  • The Berlin Masterpieces in America: Paintings, Politics, and the Monuments Men, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, 2021, no. 7, repro.

Bibliography

1830

  • Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Verzeichniss der Gemälde-Sammlung des Köninglichen Museums zu Berlin. Berlin, 1830: 53.

1838

  • Kugler, Franz. Beschreibung der Kunst-Schätze von Berlin und Potsdam. Berlin, 1838: 29.

1864

  • Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovan Battista Cavalcaselle. A New History of Painting in Italy from the Second to the Sixteenth Century. 3 vols. London, 1864-1866: 2(1864):349.

1878

  • Meyer, Julius, and Wilhelm von Bode. Köningliche Museen: Gemälde-Galerie. Beschreibendes Verzeichniss der während des Umbaues ausgestellten Gemälde. Berlin, 1878: 197.

1883

  • Köningliche Museen zu Berlin. Beschreibendes Verzeichniss der Gemälde. Berlin, 1883: 243.

1890

  • Morelli, Giovanni. Kunstkritische Studien über Italienische Malerei. 3 vols. Leipzig, 1890-1893: 3(1893):15.

1896

  • Berenson, Bernard. The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance: with an index to their works. New York, 1896: 117.

1900

  • Berenson, Bernard. The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, 2nd ed. New York and London, 1900: 123.

1901

  • Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell’arte italiana. 11 vols. Milan, 1901-1940: 7(1911):374, 378.

  • Strutt, Edward. Fra Filippo Lippi. London, 1901: 72-74, 194, repro.

1902

  • Supino, Igino B. Fra Filippo Lippi. Florence, 1902: 76, repro.

1904

  • Supino, Igino B. Les deux Lippi. Florence, 1904: 75.

1909

  • Berenson, Bernard. The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, 3rd ed. London, 1909: 150.

  • Mendelsohn, Henriette. Fra Filippo Lippi. Berlin, 1909: 107-108, 251, repro.

  • Posse, Hans. Die Gemäldegalerie des Kaiser-Friedrich-Museums: vollständiger beschreibender Katalog mit Abbildungen sämtlicher Gemälde. 2 vols. Berlin, 1909: 1:36, repro.

1923

  • Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 10(1928):419-421, pl. 255.

1931

  • Kunze, Irene, ed. Beschreibendes Verzeichnis der Gemälde im Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, 9th ed. Berlin, 1931: 254-255.

1932

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932: 287.

  • Berenson, Bernard. “Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo e la cronologia.” Bollettino d’Arte 26, no. 2 (August 1932): 58, 60.

1934

  • Kunze, Irene. Führer durch die Gemäldegalerie: die italienischen Meister. Berlin, 1934: 17.

1935

  • Ragghianti, Carlo L. “Antonio Pollaiolo e l’arte fiorentina del Quattrocento – Parte 2.” Critica d’Arte 1, no. 2 (December 1935): 80.

1936

  • Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936: 247.

  • Pudelko, Georg. “Per la datazione delle opere di Fra Filippo Lippi.” Rivista d’arte 18 (1936): 68.

1939

  • "The Kress Collection in the National Gallery of Art ,Washington, D.C." Apollo 30, no. 177 (September 1939): 131.

1940

  • McBride, Ruth Q. “Old Masters in a New National Gallery.” National Geographic Magazine 78, no. 1 (July 1940): pl. 3.

1941

  • Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 44, repro.

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 107-108, no. 401.

  • Pittaluga, Mary. “Note sulla bottega di Filippo Lippi – Parte 2.” L’Arte 11, no. 2 (1941): 74-81.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 247, repro. 131.

  • Oertel, Robert. Fra Filippo Lippi. Vienna, 1942: 75, pl. 103.

  • Shoolman, Regina, and Charles E. Slatkin. Enjoyment of Art in America: A Survey of the Permanent Collections of Paintings, Sculpture, Ceramics & Decorative Arts in American and Canadian Museums: Being an Introduction to the Masterpieces of Art from Prehistoric to Modern Times. Philadelphia and New York, 1942: no. 271, repro.

1944

  • Frankfurter, Alfred M. The Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1944: 33, repro.

1945

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 35, repro.

1946

  • Favorite Paintings from the National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.. New York, 1946: color frontispiece, 7-9.

1948

  • Kimball, Fiske, and Lionello Venturi. Great Paintings in America. New York, 1948: 38.

1949

  • Pittaluga, Mary. Fra Filippo Lippi. Florence, 1949: 214-215, 223, fig. 44.

  • Ragghianti, Carlo L. “La Collezione S. H. Kress nella National Gallery of Art.” Critica d’Arte 8, no. 1 (May 1949): 81.

1951

  • Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 43 n. 1.

1952

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 18, color repro.

  • De Tolnay, Charles. “The Autobiographic Aspect of Fra Filippo Lippi’s Virgins.” Gazette des Beaux-Arts 39 (1952): 263.

1958

  • Wohl, Hellmut. “Domenico Veneziano Studies.” Ph.D. diss., New York University, Institute of Fine Arts, 1958: 231, 243.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 56, repro.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 299, repro.

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Florentine School. 2 vols. London, 1963: 1:114.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 76.

1966

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 106-107, fig. 289.

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:26, color repro.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 66, repro.

1970

  • Berenson, Bernard. "Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo and theri Chronology." In Bernard Berenson. Homeless Paintings of the Renaissance. Ed. Hanna Kiel. London and Bloomington, IN, 1970: 226, 228, 229. [Reprint of "Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo e la cronologia," 1936].

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 106, 646.

1973

  • Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 79.

  • Del Bravo, Carlo. “L’umanesimo di Luca della Robbia.” Paragone 24, no. 285 (1973): 24.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 196, repro.

  • Marchini, Giuseppe. Filippo Lippi. Milan, 1975: 98, 208, cat. 41, fig. 72.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:262-263; 2:pl. 178.

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 19, pl. 4.

1980

  • Wohl, Hellmut. The Paintings of Domenico Veneziano. Oxford, 1980: 57. 82.

1982

  • Fusco, Laurie. “An Unpublished Madonna and Child by Fra Filippo Lippi.” J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 10 (1982): 4, 6, 8, 9, 15.

  • Ruda, Jeffery. Filippo Lippi Studies: Naturalism, Style, and Iconography in Early Renaissance Art. New York, 1982: 74 n. 44, 104, 127 n. 8.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 87, no. 45, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 229, repro.

  • Del Bravo, Carlo. Le risposte dell’arte. Florence, 1985: 49.

1986

  • Tozzini Cellai, Valeria. L’arte del Rinascimento: Filippo Lippi. Prato, 1986: 171, no. 51.

1987

  • Cole, Bruce. Italian Art 1250-1550: The Relation of Renaissance Art to Life and Society. New York, 1987: 59-61, repro.

1988

  • Kecks, Ronald G. Madonna und Kind. Das häusliche Andachtsbild im Florenz des 15. Jahrhunderts. Berlin, 1988: 39, 58, 75, 98, 100 n. 62, 132, 152.

1989

  • Rowlands, Eliot W. “Filippo Lippi and His Experience of Painting in the Veneto Region.” Artibus et Historiae 19 (1989): 82 n. 61.

1991

  • Angelelli, Walter, and Andrea G. De Marchi. Pittura dal Duecento al primo Cinquecento nelle fotografie di Girolamo Bombelli. Milan, 1991: 289, fig. XXXIII.

1993

  • Ruda, Jeffrey. Fra Filippo Lippi: Life and Work with a Complete Catalogue. London, 1993: 153, 182, 186, 244-245, 254, 406, 408-409, 434, 436, pls. 105, 244, 245.

1996

  • De Marchi, Andrea. “Un raggio di luce su Filippo Lippi a Padova.” Nuovi Studi 1 (1996): 12-13, 22 n. 58.

1997

  • Mannini, Maria Pia, and Marco Fagioli. Filippo Lippi: Catalogo completo. Florence, 1997: 35, 101-102, cat. 22.

1999

  • Holmes, Megan. Fra Filippo Lippi, The Carmelite Painter. New Haven and London, 1999: 147, 248 n. 71, 269 n. 109, figs. 133, 134.

  • Cavazzini, Laura, ed. Il fratello di Masaccio: Giovanni di Ser Giovanni detto lo Scheggia. Exh. cat. Casa Masaccio, San Giovanni Valdarno, 1999: 36.

2001

  • De Marchi, Andrea G. Falsi primitivi: prospettive critiche e metodi di esecuzione. Turin, 2001: 65, 89 n. 42, pl. V.

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: 401-405, color repro.

2005

  • Christiansen, Keith, ed. From Filippo Lippi to Piero della Francesca: Fra Carnevale and the Making of a Renaissance Master. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2005: 55, 156, 166, 180.

2009

  • Mannini, Maria Pia, and Cristina Gnoni Mavarelli, eds. Filippo et Filippino Lippi. La Renaissance à Prato. Exh. cat. Musée de Luxembourg, Paris, 2009: 112.

2011

  • Daneo, Angelica. The Kress Collection at the Denver Art Museum. Denver, 2011: 48-49, fig. 11.

2013

  • Langhanke, Birgit. Die Madonnenreliefs im Werk von Antonio Rossellino. Ph.D. diss. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, 2013: 309.

  • Christiansen, Keith. “Filippo Lippi: “il più singolare maestro del tempo suo”.” In Andrea De Marchi and Cristina Gnoni Mavarelli, eds. Da Donatllo a Lippi: Officina pratese. Exh. cat. Museo di Palazzo Pretorio, Prato, 2013: 40.

2018

  • Galassi, Maria Clelia. "Osservazioni sulla sperimentazione tecnica di Filippo Lippi tra quarto e quinto decennio del Quattrocento." In Monica Bietta, ed. Intorno all'Annunciazione Martelli di Filippo Lippi: Riflessioni dopo il restauro. Florence, 2018: 200-201, figs. 7, 9.

Wikidata ID

Q3842474


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