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Provenance

Purchased in England by Gustave Dreyfus [1837-1914], Paris;[1] his heirs; purchased 1930 with the entire Dreyfus collection by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold September 1951 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[2] gift 1952 to NGA.

[1] Fern Rusk Shapley, Catalogue of the Italian Paintings, 2 vols., Washington, D.C., 1979: 1:532, follows William Suida, Paintings and Sculptures from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56, Washington, D.C., 1956: 200, no. 79, in claiming that the NGA painting was cited in the sale catalogue of the John Watkins Brett collection (Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 5 April 1864, no. 832) as by Leonardo. But the entry in question states that in that work the Virgin held the Child in her arms. Another Madonna (no. 839) in the same collection, also attributed to Leonardo, showed the figures against a landscape background. While either entry might theoretically refer to the NGA painting (no dimensions are given in the sale catalogue), it is unlikely that, before any of Leonardo's early works were rediscovered, his hand would have been recognized in a picture as Verrocchiesque as this one. The two Leonardo Madonnas in the Brett Collection were more probably Leonardesque productions of the type then commonly given to the master.

Suida and Shapley further stated that the picture was in the collection of Charles Timbal in Paris and that it was sold by Timbal's heirs to Gustave Dreyfus in 1872. However, an inventory of the pictures Timbal's heirs sold to Dreyfus, a transcript of which is in NGA curatorial files, does not include a work corresponding to the NGA painting, unless it was then attributed to Lippi or Botticelli. The claim that the picture was sold to Dreyfus as early as 1872 is contradicted, moreover, by Jean Guiffrey's explicit statement, in "La collection de M. Gustave Dreyfus II--La peinture," Les Arts 73 (January 1908): 10, repro., that Dreyfus had only recently acquired it in England.

[2] Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Los Angeles: reel 114, box 259, folder 14; reel 331, box 476, folder 2; copies in NGA curatorial files. The painting is variously attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and Verrocchio in the Duveen files. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1358.

Exhibition History
1932
Exhibition of Italian Renaissance Art, Wadsworth Atheneum and Morgan Memorial, Hartford, 1932, no. 7, as Madonna and Child by Andrea del Verrocchio.
1939
Mostra di Leonardo da Vinci, Palazzo dell'Arte, Milan, 1939, unnumbered catalogue, as Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci or by Lorenzo di Credi.
1949
Leonardo da Vinci Exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum, 1949, no. 15, as Madonna of the Pomegranate by Leonardo da Vinci.
2006
Leonardo da Vinci. Die Madonna mit der Nelke, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, 2006, no. 8, repro.
2015
Leonardo da Vince, 1452-1519: The Design of the World, Palazzo Reale, Milan, 2015, no. I.7, repro., as by Leonardo da Vinci.
Bibliography
1956
Frankfurter, Alfred. "Crystal Anniversary in the Capital." Art News 55, no. 1 (March 1956): 24, repro.
1956
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida and Fern Rusk Shapley. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1956: 198-201, no. 79, repro., as Circle of Verrocchio (Possibly Leonardo).
1956
Walker, John. "The Nation's Newest Old Masters." The National Geographic Magazine 110, no. 5 (November 1956): 644, color repro. 649.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 14.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 65, repro., as Circle of Verrocchio (Possibly Leonardo).
1961
Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 40, color repro., as Circle of Verrocchio (Possibly Leonardo).
1962
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 20, color repro., as Circle of Verrocchio (Possibly Leonardo).
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 300, repro., as Circle of Verrocchio (Possibly Leonardo)
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 136, as Circle of Andrea del Verrocchio (Possibly Leonardo).
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:56, color repro.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 123, repro., as Circle of Andrea del Verrocchio (Possibly Leonardo).
1968
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 113-114, fig. 280.
1969
Grossman, Sheldon. "The Madonna and Child with a Pomegranate and Some New Paintings from the Circle of Verrocchio." Studies in the History of Art (1968-69):46-69, repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 366, repro., as Circle of Andrea del Verrocchio (Possibly Leonardo).
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:531-534; 2:pl. 371.
1979
Sutton, Denys. "Robert Langton Douglas. Part IV." Apollo 110 (July 1979): 45 [237], pl. XV, 46 [238].
1979
Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 25, pl. 8.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 100, no. 66, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 424, repro.
1998
Hohenstatt, Peter. Leonardo da Vinci. Germany, 1998: fig. 18, fig. 21.
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: 422-427, color repro.
2009
Schumacher, Andreas, et al. Botticelli: Likeness, Myth, Devotion. Exh. cat. Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, 2009: 276, fig. 146.
2021
Dalli Regoli, Gigetta. "Codicillo vinciano. A Leonardo quel che è di Leonardo..." Finestre sull'Arte. Rivista online d'arte antica e contemporanea (30 January 2021): fig. 3
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