National Gallery of Art

Overview

After four years in Florence, Raphael moved to Rome in 1508, probably to execute more significant commissions under the papal reign of Julius II. The major work in America from Raphael's Roman period is The Alba Madonna. In this "Madonna of Humility" the Virgin is seated directly on the ground instead of on a heavenly throne or a sumptuous cushion. The artist grouped the figures in a broad low pyramid, aligning them within a circle in such a way that they not only conform to their space, but dominate it as well. The tondo, or round–format style, was popular in Florentine painting, and the influence of the Florentine masters Michelangelo and Leonardo is also apparent in the work.

The Alba Madonna shows the Roman style Raphael adapted, in the painting’s delicacy of color and mood, with figures draped in rose pink, pale blue, and green, set in an idealized, classical landscape. The Madonna is dressed in an antique costume of turban, sandals, and flowing robes. The serene, bucolic atmosphere of Raphael's tondo belies its emotional meaning. The Christ Child's gesture of accepting the cross from the Baptist is the focus of attention of all three figures, as if they have foreknowledge of Christ's sacrifice for mankind.

Provenance

Possibly Paolo Giovio, appointed to the Bishopric of Nocera by Clement VII in 1528; possibly from him to Chiesa di Monte Oliveto, Nocera de'Pagani; sold 1686 to Gasparo de Haro y Guzman, Conde-Duque de Olivares, Marqués del Carpio and Viceroy of Naples [d. 1687]; by inheritance to his daughter, Catalina Méndez de Haro y Guzmán, later Duquesa de Alba; by inheritance to the Duques de Alba; by inheritance to María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Alvarez de Toledo, Duquesa de Alba [d. 1802], Sanlúcar, near Seville;[1] sold by her heirs to Count Edmund de Bourke, Danish Ambassador to Spain; sold 1820 to William G. Coesvelt, London;[2] sold 1836 to (M. Labensky) for Czar Nicholas I of Russia [1796-1855], Saint Petersburg; Imperial Hermitage Gallery, Saint Petersburg;[3] purchased April 1931 through (Matthiesen Gallery, Berlin; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London; and M. Knoedler & Co., New York) by Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 5 June 1931 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[4] gift 1937 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1979

Berenson and the Connoisseurship of Italian Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1979, no. 113, repro.

1983

Raphael and America, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1983, no. 92, repro.

2004

Masterpieces from the World's Museums in the Hermitage: Raphael's Madonna with Christ and St. John the Baptist (The Madonna Alba) from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, 2004, no cat.

2004

Raphael: From Urbino to Rome, National Gallery, London, 2004-2005, no. 93, as The Virgin and Child with Saint John (The Alba Madonna), repro.

Bibliography

1909

Wrangell, Baron Nicolas. Les Chefs-d'Oeuvre de la Galérie de Tableaux de l'Hermitage Impérial à St-Pétersbourg. London, 1909: repro. 11.

1929

Meissner, Carl. "Raphaels Madonna di Gaeta und Madonna Alba." Kunstauktion 3, no 30 (28 July 1929): 9, repro.

1929

"Um die Gaeta Madonna." Kunstauktion 3, no. 34 (29 August 1929):6.

1935

Tietze, Hans. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935: 79, repro. (English ed., Masterpieces of European Painting in America. New York, 1939: 79, repro.).

1937

Cortissoz, Royal. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: repro. frontispiece

1937

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

1937

"Trends: Art." American Architect and Architecture. 150 (March 1937): 4, repro.

1941

Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 162, no. 24, pl. VIII.

1942

Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 239, repro. 174.

1944

Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 48, color repro.

1946

Favorite Paintings from the National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.. New York, 1946: 11-14, color repro.

1949

Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 29, repro.

1951

Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 58-59, repro.

1956

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: 20, color repro.

1957

Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 26

1960

Shapley, Fern Rusk. Later Italian Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1960 (Booklet Number Six in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 42, color repro. on cover.

1960

The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 25.

1963

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 134, 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: 1:130, color repro.

1966

Walton, William. "Parnassus on Potomac." Art News 65 (March 1966): 38, repro. 39.

1968

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

1973

Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 22, 24 repro., 152-153, 156.

1975

European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 280, repro.

1978

Wasserman, Jack. "The Genesis of Raphael's Alba Madonna." Studies in the History of Art vol. 8 (1978):35-61, repro.

1979

Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: I:386-389, II:pl. 277.

1979

Thomas, Denis. The Face of Christ. London, 1979: 78, repro.

1979

Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 35, pl. 19.

1982

Alsop, Joseph. The Rare Art Traditions: The History of Art Collecting and Its Linked Phenomena Wherever These Have Appeared. Bollingen series 35, no. 27. New York, 1982: 452.

1984

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 178, no. 199, color repro.

1985

European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 325, repro.

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, 52-54, repro.

1988

Wheeler, Marion, ed. His Face--Images of Christ in Art: Selections from the King James Version of the Bible. New York, 1988: 126, no. 16, color repro.

1991

Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 20, 23, 91, 143, 170, color repro.

1992

National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 30, repro.

1996

Landi, Ann. "150 Years of Helping Shape a Nation's Taste." New York Times (December 1, 1996): 46.

1996

Wallis, Stephen. "Sketchbook: Knoedler Turns 150." Art & Antiques 19, no. 10 (November 1996): 18.

1997

Shaw-Eagle, Joanna. "Christ's Birth Gave Birth to Astounding Images: Gallery Glitters with holy Masterpieces." Washington Times (December 21, 1997): D1, D5, repro.

1998

Buck, Stephanie and Peter Hohenstatt. Raffeallo Santi, known as Raphael, 1483-1520. Konemann, 1998: 76-77, repro. no. 97.

2004

Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 80-81, no. 56, color repro.

2005

Honour, Hugh and John Fleming. A World History of Art. 7th ed. New York, 2005: 469, 470, color fig. 11.17.

2006

Rosenberg, Pierre. Only in America: One Hundred Paintings in American Museums Unmatched in European Collections. Milan, 2006: 17.

2009

Odom, Anne, and Wendy R. Salmond, eds. Treasures into Tractors: The Selling of Russia's Cultural Heritage, 1918-1938. Washington, 2009: 91, 106 nt 8, 131, 135 nt. 6, 202.

2013

Acres, Alfred. Renaissance Invention and the Haunted Infancy. London and Turnhout, 2013: 59, fig. 24.

2013

Harris, Neil. Capital Culture: J. Carter Brown, the National Gallery of Art, and the Reinvention of the Museum Experience. Chicago and London, 2013: 44, 459-460.

2013

Hodge, Susie. Raphael: His Life and Works in 500 Images. Wigston, Leicestershire, 2013: 164, color fig.

2014

Mims, Bryan. "Asheville's Fortress of Art." Our State Down Home in North Carolina (1 October 2014): 40-42, 44, repro.

2016

Jaques, Susan. The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia. New York, 2016: 395, 398.

2016

Warner-Johnson, Tim, and Jeremy Howard, eds. Colnaghi: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. London, 2016: 4-5, color fig. 6.

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