Overview
This painting and the
Around the 13th century, however, a confluence of events profoundly affected painting in Italy. Focus shifted to a new kind of freestanding imagery: the painted altarpiece. Italy experienced an influx of painted wood panels—and panel painters—from the Byzantine Empire. Following the Fourth Crusade in 1204, many icons (paintings of a sacred personage used as an object of veneration) were brought to Italy from Byzantine sanctuaries in Greece. Byzantine icon painters also left Greece to work in Italy, bringing their techniques and styles with them.
We can see the abstracted style of Byzantine icons here. The gold striations that define folds in clothing, the round volume of Mary’s veiled head, and the frontal pose of Jesus—who looks more like a miniature adult than a child—are all part of the Byzantine tradition. Because their subject is not the temporary appearance of the physical world but a holy and infinite presence, icons avoid direct references to earthly reality and to specific times or places. Instead, their backgrounds are dematerialized with shimmering gold, and figures appear timeless and unchanging.
Entry
The painting shows the Madonna seated frontally on an elaborate, curved, two-tier, wooden throne of circular plan.
It was
Opinions thus vary widely regarding the cultural origin of this painting and the Enthroned Madonna and Child, but significant convergences can be ascertained on some points. It seems generally recognized, for example, that the Kahn Madonna is the earlier of the two images and that it was painted by an artist trained in Byzantium, although possibly at work far from his homeland, and for patrons of Western culture. The close stylistic affinities between the two panels are also commonly recognized, even if the Mellon Madonna is often indicated as the work of a different hand. In more recent years, however, various scholars have again proposed their common authorship.
The sudden appearance of the two panels in tandem and their common provenance from a small Spanish town have been considered strange;
The claim is made occasionally that modern restoration drastically altered the Mellon Madonna. A comparison of photographs taken c. 1920 with those taken in more recent times proves indeed that modern conservation measures have been extensive. Yet many parts of the painting that are still clearly legible disclose close resemblances with Enthroned Madonna and Child. The affinities concern not only the formal treatment of such details as the faces of the two images of Mary
Of the comparisons hitherto proposed, the one indicated by Otto Demus, of the Madonna of the Deesis in the southern gallery of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
It is understandable that some decorative forms used in the panels — for example, the elaborate incised decoration of the halos of the Kahn Madonna and the type of throne — should have suggested the artist’s contact with Tuscan figurative culture. But closer analysis will show that the decorative motifs of the halos,
Miklós Boskovits (1935–2011)
March 21, 2016
Provenance
Said to have come from a church, or convent, in Calahorra (province of La Rioja, Spain). Gabriel Dereppes, Madrid;[1] purchased 11 September 1919 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[2] Carl W. Hamilton [1886-1967], New York, early 1920s;[3] (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[4] sold 15 December 1936 to The Andrew W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[5] gift 1937 to NGA.
Exhibition History
- 1997
- The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era A.D. 843-1261, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997, no. 262, repro.
- 2000
- The Mother of God: Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine Art, Benaki Museum, Athens, 2000-2001, no. 68, repro.
- 2004
- Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2004, no. 286, repro.
Technical Summary
The wooden support consists of two linden (tiglio)
Bibliography
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- 1941
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- 1944
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- 1949
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- 1949
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- 1959
- Shapley, Fern Rusk. Early Italian Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1959 (Booklet Number Three in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 12, color repro., as Enthroned Madonna and Child.
- 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): 6, as Madonna and Child Enthroned.
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- 1964
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- 1965
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- Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 21, as Enthroned Madonna and Child.
- 1966
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- 1966
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- 1967
- Lazarev, Viktor Nikitič. Storia della pittura bizantina. Turin, 1967: 318-319, 347 n. 177.
- 1968
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- 1968
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- 1969
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- 1970
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- 1971
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- 1972
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- 1973
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- 1975
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- 1976
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- 1977
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- 1979
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- 1982
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- 1982
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- 1982
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- 1982
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- 1984
- Boskovits, Miklós. A Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting. The Fourteenth Century. Sec. III, Vol. 9: The Miniaturist Tendency. Florence, 1984: 24 n. 60.
- 1984
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- 1984
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- 1985
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- 1985
- European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 22, repro.
- 1986
- Leone De Castris, Pierluigi. "Pittura del Duecento e del Trecento a Napoli e nel Meridione." In La Pittura in Italia. Il Duecento e il Trecento. Edited by Enrico Castelnuovo. 2 vols. Milan, 1986: 2:463, fig. 717.
- 1987
- Folda, Jaroslav. "The Kahn and Mellon Madonnas: Icons or Altarpieces?" In Research Reports and Record of Activities, National Gallery of Art, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, 7 (1987): 57+.
- 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. 23, color repro.
- 1991
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- 1991
- Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 157, color repro.
- 1991
- Leone De Castris, Pierluigi. “Sicilia: Pittura e miniatura.” In Enciclopedia dell’arte medievale. Edited by Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana. 12 vols. Rome, 1991-2002: 10(1999):619-620.
- 1993
- Di Dario Guida, Maria Pia. Icone di Calabria e altre icone meridionali. 2nd ed. Messina, 1993: 115-116 (repros.), 119, 121.
- 1995
- Folda, Jaroslav. "The Kahn and Mellon Madonnas: Icon or Altarpiece?" In Byzantine East, Latin West. Art-Historical Studies in Honor of Kurt Weitzmann. Princeton, 1995: 501+, repro.
- 1995
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- 1995
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- 1995
- Weyl Carr, Annemarie. "Byzantines and Italians on Cyprus: Images of Art." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 49 (1995): 352 n. 71.
- 1996
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- 1996
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- 1996
- Schmidt, Victor M. "Die Funktionen der Tafelbilder mit der thronenden Madonna in der Malerei des Duecento." Mededelingen van het Nederlands Instituut te Rome 55 (1996): 60-63, fig. 16.
- 1997
- Evans, Helen C., and William D. Wixom, eds. The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1997: 391, 396 (repro.), 397.
- 1997
- Gebhardt, Volker. Kunstgeschichte Malerei, 1997, no. 5, repro.
- 1997
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- 1997
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- 1998
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- 1999
- Lauria, Antonietta. "Una Madonna tardoduecentesca tra Roma e Assisi." in Arte d’Occidente: temi e metodi. Studi in onore di Angiola Maria Romanini. Edited by Antonio Cadei. 3 vols. Rome, 1999: 2:642.
- 1999
- Polzer, Joseph. "Some Byzantine and Byzantinising Madonnas Painted During the Later Middle Ages, 1." Arte cristiana 87 (1999): 85.
- 1999
- Polzer, Joseph. "Some Byzantine and Byzantinising Madonnas Painted During the Later Middle Ages, 2." Arte cristiana 87 (1999): 167-182, fig. 12.
- 1999
- Velmans, Tania, Vojislav Korać, and Marica Šuput. Bisanzio: lo splendore dell’arte monumentale. Milan, 1999: 202.
- 2000
- Kirsh, Andrea, and Rustin S. Levenson. Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies. Materials and Meaning in the Fine Arts 1. New Haven, 2000: 179-181, fig. 187, 189.
- 2000
- Labriola, Ada. "Lo stato degli studi su Cimabue e un libro recente." Arte cristiana 88 (2000): 343, 350 nn. 18-19.
- 2000
- Vassilaki, Maria, ed. The Mother of God: Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine Art. Exh. cat. Benaki Museum, Athens. Milan and London, 2000: 438-439, 439 repro.
- 2001
- Folda, Jaroslav. "Reflections on the Mellon Madonna as a Work of Crusader Art." In Dei gesta per Francos: Études sur les croisades dédiées à Jean Richard/Crusade Studies in Honour of Jean Richard. Edited by Michel Balad, Benjamin Kedar and Jonathan Riley-Smith. Aldershot, UK and Burlington, VT, 2001: 361-371.
- 2002
- Folda, Jaroslav. "Icon to Altarpiece in the Frankish East: Images of the Virgin and Child Enthroned." In Italian Panel Painting of the Duecento and Trecento. Edited by Victor M. Schmidt. Studies in the History of Art 61 (2002): repro. 122, 131-135, 139, fig. 8.
- 2002
- Polzer, Joseph. "The ‘Byzantine’ Kahn and Mellon Madonnas: Concerning their Chronology, Place of Origin, and Method of Analysis." Arte cristiana 90 (2002): 401-410, repro. 403.
- 2004
- Evans, Helen C., ed. Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557). Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. New Haven, 2004: 476-477, repro.
- 2005
- Corrie, Rebecca W. "The Khan and Mellon Madonnas and their Place in the History of the Virgin and Child Enthroned." In Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium. Edited by Maria Vassilaki. Aldershot, UK and Burlington, VT, 2005: 293-300, fig. 24.2.
- 2005
- Folda, Jaroslav. Crusader Art in the Holy Land: From the Third Crusade to the Fall of Acre, 1187-1291. New York, 2005: 457-458, 557, fig. 300.
- 2006
- Herbert, Lynley Anne. "Duccio di Buoninsegna: Icon of Painters, or Painter of “Icons"?." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, Newark, 2006: 4, 11.
- 2008
- Folda, Jaroslav. Crusader Art: The Art of the Crusaders in the Holy Land, 1099-1291. Adershot, England, and Burlington, VT, 2008: 9, repro. 128, 130, 163 n. 28.
- 2013
- Nelson, Robert S. "A Painting Becomes Canonical: Bernard Berenson, Royall Tyler, and the Mellon Madonna." In Renaissance Studies in Honor of Joseph Connors. Edited by Machtelt Israëls and Louis A. Waldman. 2 vols. Florence, 2013: 1:696-701, 969-970, fig. 1.
- 2015
- Folda, Jaroslav, with a contribution by Lucy J. Wrapson. Byzantine Art and Italian Panel Painting: The Virgin and Child "Hodegetria" and the Art of Chrysography. Cambridge, England, 2015: 105, 122-131, 193, pl. 20, 323-329 notes.
- 2016
- Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 44-55, color repro.