Madonna and Child
c. 1470
Painter, Florentine, 1446 - 1510
West Building Main Floor, Gallery 7
Artwork overview
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Medium
tempera on panel
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 74.5 x 54.5 cm (29 5/16 x 21 7/16 in.)
framed: 113.7 x 94.9 x 8.6 cm (44 3/4 x 37 3/8 x 3 3/8 in.) -
Accession
1937.1.21
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Prince Bartolomeo Corsini [1729-1792], Villa di Mezzomonte, near Florence, by 1763;[1] by inheritance to Prince Tommaso Corsini [1767-1856]; by inheritance to Prince Andrea Corsini [1804-1868]; by inheritance to Prince Tommaso Corsini [1835-1919], who in the early 1870s had it transferred to Palazzo Corsini in Via del Parione, Florence;[2] by inheritance to his daughter, Beatrice Corsini Pandolfini [1868-1955]; (Professor Luigi Grassi [1858-1937, Florence); sold August 1930 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York);[3] purchased 15 December 1936 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[4] gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] The inventory of the Villa di Mezzomonte, dated 1763 (Archivio Corsini, stanza VI, arm. 4, no. 14), describes in the first room on the lawn side, "un tabernacolo intagliato e dorato in parte e parte tinto di verde entrovi la S.ma Vergine con Gesu Bambino. Dipinto su asse" ("a tabernacle in part inlaid and gilded and in part painted green, containing the Holy Virgin and the Child Jesus. Painted on board"). In the transcription of the inventory done by Tommaso Corsini, an annotation indicates that the painting is "oggi in Galleria" ("now in the Gallery"). According to Ulderico Medici, Catalogo della Galleria dei Principi Corsini in Firenze, Florence, 1880: 65, the painting was moved to Palazzo Corsini in Via del Parione from a Corsini family villa in 1870. Perhaps this is only an approximate date; in any case, in the "Prospetto della corrispondenza dei diversi inventari (secondo l'ordine dei quadri nel 1872)" ("Outline of the corresondence between the various inventories [following the order of the pictures in 1872]") (Archivio Corsini, stanza VI, arm. 4, no. 74), lists "no. 3 Lippi (?). Madonna a tabernacolo. 1864 Mezzomonte" ("Madonna in a tabernacle. 1864 [meaning that in this year the painting was still preserved there])." The painting is not yet listed in the 1727 inventory of that villa.
[2] Tommaso Corsini was a man of vast cultural interests (see Nidia Danelon Vasoli, "Corsini, Tommaso," Dizionario biografico degli italiani, 1983: 29:680-683). As soon as he acceded to his title in 1868, he began to reorganize the family's historic gallery, entrusting the task to the sculptor Ulderico Medici, who also prepared the catalogue of the works exhibited. Of this painting, Medici 1880: 56 notes: "nel 1870 Sua Eccellenza il Principe Don Tommaso lo fece restaurare e dispose che fosse collocato nella di lui Galleria" ("in 1870 His Excellency Prince Don Tommaso had it restored and placed in his gallery").
[3] Until 1935 (see Lumachi, Florence: A New Illustrated Guide, 2nd ed., 1935: 213) and in some other guides even later, the painting continued to be listed as no. 176 in Room IV of the Corsini Gallery. However, as is documented by the label on the back of the painting, its ownership had already passed by inheritance to Prince Tommaso's daughter Beatrice, who in 1889 married Count Roberto Pandolfini. (The label is only partly legible today and reads "Prop. B. Pandolfini / Prov. Casa Corsini / Cat. N... Nota N..." Per a letter of 20 October 1936 from Duveen Brothers' office in Paris to the one in New York, the obscured line originally read "Cat. N. 858. Nota N. Specale.") Apparently soon after Tommaso Corsini's death his heirs began to negotiate the sale of some paintings from the Gallery; in 1920 a Duveen Brothers agent was invited to examine them in the gallery (see Edward Fowles, Memories of Duveen Brothers, London, 1976: 123), but the company did not purchase the Botticelli until 1930. It was by then in the hands of the dealer and restorer Luigi Grassi, who showed it to Bernard Berenson in February 1930; Berenson promptly recommended the purchase to Duveen Brothers (Box 233, Folder 3, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; copies in NGA curatorial files).
[4] The original Duveen Brothers invoice is in Gallery Archives, copy in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Bibliography
1880
Medici, Ulderigo. _Catalogo della Galleria dei Principi Corsini in Firenze. Florence, 1880: 56, cat. 176, as by Filippino Lippi.
1884
Burckhardt, Jacob. Die Cicerone. Ed. Wilhelm von Bode. 5th ed. Leipzig, 1884: 2, part 2:579.
Ostoya, Gaetan. Les Anicens maîtres et les oeuvres à Florence. Guide artistique. Florence, 1884: 292, as by Filippino Lippi.
1893
Ulmann, Hermann. Sandro Botticelli. Munich, 1893: 33.
1896
Grifi, Elvira. Saunterings in Florence. A New Artistic and Practical Handbook, 6th ed. Florence, 1896: 364, as by Filippino Lippi.
1897
Lafenestre, Georges and Eugène Richtenberger. La Peinture en Europe. Paris, 1897: 315, , as by Filippino Lippi.
Steinmann, Ernst. Botticelli. Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1897: 10.
1900
Plunkett, George N. Sandro Botticelli. London, 1900: 115.
1901
Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell’arte italiana. 11 vols. Milan, 1901-1940: 7(1911):591.
1905
Reinach, Salomon. Répertoire de peintures du moyen âge et de la Renaissance (1280-1580). 6 vols. Paris, 1905-1923: 3(1910):409, pl. 1, as by Filippino Lippi.
Konody, Paul G. Filippino Lippi. London, 1905: xxi, as by Filippino Lippi.
1906
Gerspach, Edouard. “La Galerie Corsini.” Les arts 52 (April 1906): 14, 23, repro., as by Filippino Lippi.
1907
Gebhart, Émile. Sandro Botticelli. Paris, 1907: 239.
Rusconi, Arturo Jahn. Sandro Botticelli. Bergamo, 1907: 19, 20, 93, repro.
1908
Cruttwell, Maud. A Guide to the Paintings in the Churches and Minor Museums of Florence. London and New York, 1908: 84, as School of Botticelli.
1921
Bode, Wilhelm von. Botticelli. Berlin, 1921: 28-29, 33, 38, 124, repro.
1923
Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 12(1931):249, 250, repro., as by Amico di Sandro.
Schmarsow, August. Sandro Botticelli. Dresden, 1923: 15 n. 1, pl. 20, as by Botticelli and Filippino Lippi.
1925
Venturi, Adolfo. Botticelli. Rome, 1925: 117, as School of Botticelli.
Bode, Wilhelm von. Botticelli. English edition. Berlin, 1925: 22-23, repro.
1926
Venturi, Adolfo. Botticelli. French ed. Paris, 1926: 103.
Bode, Wilhelm von. Botticelli: Des Meister Werke. Stuttgart, 1926: 5, 147, repro.
1928
Lumachi, Francesco. Firenze, nuova guida illustrata: 230. Florence, 1928: 230.
Bertarelli, Luigi B. Touring Club Italiano: Central Italy. Vol. 2: Firenze, Siena, Perugia, Assisi. 2nd ed. Milan, 1929: 175.
1935
Scharf, Alfred. Filippino Lippi. Vienna, 1935: 115, cat. 109, as doubtfully by Filippino Lippi.
Lumachi, Francesco. Firenze, nuova guida illustrata: 230, 2nd ed. Florence, 1935: 213, as School of Botticelli.
1936
Gamba, Carlo. Botticelli. Milan, 1936: 95, pl. 17.
1937
Cortissoz, Royal. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: repro. 12, as The Corsini Madonna
Frankfurter, Alfred M. "The Mellon Gift to the Nation." _Art News _ 35 (9 January 1937): 11, 15, repro.
1938
Mesnil, Jacques. Botticelli. Paris, 1938: 106-107, 205 n. 97, 226, pl. 52.
1941
Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 29, no. 21.
Mesnil, Jacques. "On the Artistic Education of Botticelli." The Burlington Magazine 78, no. 457 (April 1941): 118.
Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 100, repro.
Richter, George M. “The New National Gallery in Washington.” The Burlington Magazine 78 (June 1941): 177.
1942
Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 239, repro. 76.
1945
[Borenius, Tancred]. “Editorial: The New Kress Gift to the National Gallery, Washington.” The Burlington Magazine 86, no. 504 (March 1945): 55.
1949
Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 26, repro.
1951
Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 49.
Davies, Martin. National Gallery Catalogues. The Earlier Italian Schools. London, 1951: 87.
1958
Salvini, Roberto. Tutta la pittura del Botticelli, 2 vols. Milan, 1958: 1:14, 35-36, 67, pl. 11.
Gamba, Fiammetta. Filippino Lippi nella storia della critica. Florence, 1958: 91, as by Filippino Lippi.
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.
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: 37-38,
Busignani, Alberto. Botticelli. Florence, 1965: 14.
1967
Mandel, Gabriel. The Complete Paintings of Botticelli. Milan and New York, 1967: 86, cat. 11.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 10, repro.
1972
Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 34, 645.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 36, repro.
1976
Fowles, Edward. Memories of Duveen Brothers. London, 1976: 123, 204.
1978
Lightbown, Ronald. Botticelli: Life and Work. 2 vols. Berkeley, CA, 1978: 2:15-16, cat. A10.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:80-81; 2:pl. 54.
1980
De Angelis, Rita. Boticelli: Every Painting. Milan and New York, 1980: 14, cat. 3, as "“partly by Botticelli’s own hand, which is difficult to recognize because the drawing was probably done by Lippi."
Ragghianti, Carlo L. “Galleria di Washington.” Critica d’Arte 45, nos. 154-156 (1980): 219.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 55, repro.
1987
Horne, Herbert. H. Alessandro Filipepi commonly called Sandro Botticelli, Painter of Florence. Appendix III: Catalogue of the works of Sandro Botticelli, and of his disciples and imitators, together with notices of those erroneously attributed to him in the public and private collections of Europe and America. Ed. Caterina Caneva. Florence, 1987: 145, as School of Botticelli.
1988
Baldini, Umberto. Botticelli. Florence, 1988: 254.
Kecks, Ronald G. Madonna und Kind. Das häusliche Andachtsbild im Florenz des 15. Jahrhunderts. Berlin, 1988: 121-122, fig. 111.
1989
Pons, Nicoletta. Botticelli: catalogo completo. Milan, 1989: 55, cat. 8.
1990
Caneva, Caterina. Botticelli: catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1990: 28, pl. 10.
1992
Testi Cristiani, Maria Laura. Botticelli. Paris, 1992: 21, 95, repro.
1996
Zambrano, Patrizia. “The ‘Dead Christ’ in Cherbourg: a new attribution to the young Filippino Lippi.” The Burlington Magazine 138, no. 1118 (May 1996): 321 n. 3, as by Filippino Lippi.
1997
Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA: One Hundred Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. St. Louis, 1997: 138-139, 210, color repro.
Goldner, George R., and Carmen Bambach, et. al. The Drawings of Filippino Lippi and His Circle. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997: pl. 1, 402, as by Filippino Lippi.
2003
Boskovits, Miklós, David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2003: 152-156, color repro.
2004
Zambrano, Patrizia, and Jonathan Katz Nelson. Filippino Lippi. Milan, 2004: 29, 69 n. 33, 126-127, 130-131, 287 n. 75, 310-311, 312, cat. 6, figs. 105, 108, as by Filippino Lippi.
2005
Zöllner, Frank. Botticelli. Munich, London, and New York, 2005: 191, cat. 14.
Cecchi, Alessandro. Botticelli. Milan, 2005: 57 n. 48, as "not completely" by Botticelli.
Tambini, Anna. “Osservazioni sulla ‘Madonna del sangue’ di Portico di Romagna e sul Maestro di Marradi.” Romagna Arte e Storia 25 (2005): 10, as by Filippino Lippi.
2006
Fahy, Everett. "Early Italian paintings in Washington and Philadelphia." The Burlington Magazine 148, no. 1241 (August 2006): 539, as by Filippino Lippi.
2009
Acidini, Cristina, William Dello Russo, and Federico Poletti. Botticelli nel suo tempo. Milan, 2009: 40, 277, repro.
2017
Serres, Karen. "Duveen's Italian framemaker, Ferruccio Vannoni." The Burlington Magazine 159, no. 1370 (May 2017): 373 n. 40.
Wikidata ID
Q20173966