Madonna and Child

c. 1475

Pier Francesco Fiorentino

Associated Names
Pier Francesco Fiorentino

Painter, Florentine, 1444/1445 - after 1497

The artwork depicts the Madonna and Child, featuring a seated woman holding a young child. The woman's upper body is visible, with her head slightly inclined towards the child. She has light skin and blond hair partially covered by a dark veil. She wears a dark red robe with gold embroidery on the cuffs. A golden halo encircles her head. The child, mostly unclothed, sits on her lap, holding a scroll and wearing a red necklace. The child also has a halo. The background is an aged, textured surface with muted tones.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    tempera on panel transferred to canvas

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 79.5 x 60 cm (31 5/16 x 23 5/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1939.1.214

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Arnaldo Corsi, Florence.[1] possibly Icilio Federico Joni [1866-1946], Siena;[2] sold 1912 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York), as by Baldovinetti;[3] sold to William Salomon [1852-1919], New York; by inheritance to Mrs. William Salomon, New York; sold 1923 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); Clarence H. Mackay, Roslyn [1874-1938], New York, by 1924 until at least 1926; (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York), probably from Mackay; sold 1936 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1939 to NGA.

[1] According to W.R. Valentiner, The Clarence H. Mackay Collection. Italian Schools, New York, 1976: no. 2.

[2] According to Colin Simpson, Artful Partners: Bernard Berenson and Joseph Duveen, New York, 1986:184.

[3] According to the list of expenses for the painting in the X Book, Reel 422, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (copy in NGA curatorial files).

[4] See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1324.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1924

  • Loan Exhibition of Important Early Italian Paintings in the Possession of Notable American Collectors, Duveen Brothers, New York, 1924, no. 20, as by Alesso Baldovinetti (no. 9 in illustrated 1926 version of catalogue).

1925

  • Italian Art, Hillyer Art Gallery, Smith College, Northampton, 1925, no cat.

Bibliography

1923

  • Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 11(1929):278-279, fig. 179, as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1924

  • Offner, Richard. "A Remarkable Exhibition of Italian Paintings." The Arts 5 (1924): 245, 248-249, repro., as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1925

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. “The Clarence H. Mackay Collection.” International Studio 81, no. 339 (August 1925): 337-342, repro., as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1926

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. The Clarence H. Mackay Collection. Italian Schools. New York, 1926: 2-3, cat. 2, as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1929

  • Singleton, Esther. Old World Masters in New World Collections. New York, 1929: 48-51.

  • Cortissoz, Royal. "The Clarence H. Mackay Collection." International Studio 94 (1929): 33-34, as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1932

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932: 37, as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1933

  • Venturi, Lionello. Italian Paintings in America. 3 vols. New York and Milan, 1933: 2:pl.233, as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1936

  • Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimentoi. Milan, 1936: 32, as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1938

  • Kennedy, Ruth Wedgwood. Alesso Baldovinetti, a critical & historical study. New Haven, 1938: 92-97, fig. 87, as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1940

  • Kennedy, Ruth Wedgwood. “An Early Annunciation by Alesso Baldovinetti.” Art in America 28, no. 4 (1940): 147, as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1941

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 10-11, no. 325, pl. I, as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

  • Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 58, repro., as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 246, repro. 60, as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1944

  • Mechlin, Leila. “In the Art World. The Christmas Theme in Art.” The Sunday Star (Washington, DC) (24 December 1944): B-6.

1945

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 45, repro., as by Alesso Baldovinetti.

1961

  • Olsen, Harald. Italian Paintings and Sculpture in Denmark. Amsterdam, 1961: 60.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 102.

1966

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 114-115, fig. 312.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 90, repro.

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 163, 325, 645, 661, as Attributed to Pier Francesco Fiorentino.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 268, repro.

  • Thorvaldsens Museum: Katalog. Copenhagen, 1975: 201.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:367-358; 2:pl. 266.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 311, repro.

1986

  • Simpson, Colin. Artful Partners: Bernard Berenson and Joseph Duveen. New York, 1986: 184.

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: 574-577, color repro.

2013

  • Langhanke, Birgit. Die Madonnenreliefs im Werk von Antonio Rossellino. Ph.D. diss. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, 2013: 228, n. 156, 480 fig. 113.

2020

  • Huebscher, Arne. Alesso Baldovinetti und die Florentiner Malerei der Frührenaissance. Munich, 2020: 505, cat. F 3, figs. 405, 406.

Wikidata ID

Q20174202