This is the main panel of the altarpiece Raphael painted for the Ansidei family chapel in the Servite Church of S. Fiorenzo in Perugia in 1505.
The Virgin sits in majesty on a carved wooden throne with the Christ Child on her lap. She draws his attention to a passage in the book on her knee. A string of coral beads ending in jewelled crosses like a rosary is suspended from the throne, a reminder of the blood Christ will shed at the Crucifixion. The Latin inscription, ‘SALVE MATER CHRISTI’ (‘Hail Mother of Christ’), would have acted as a prompt to the recitation of the rosary. John the Baptist points to the infant Christ and gazes at his own cross, in foreknowledge of Christ’s future death. Saint Nicholas concentrates on his book.
Raphael carefully calculated the geometry of the composition, using an incised grid to divide it horizontally and vertically into harmonious thirds before he began painting.
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Carol Plazzotta and Tom Henry, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings’, vol. 4, ‘Raphael’, London 2022; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
This altar frame was crafted during the 1880s by Reginald Dolman and Sons, London. The company logo is stamped on the pinewood at the back of the predella.
The frame’s ornaments are made of pressed composition and are partially gilded with water and oil. The pilasters feature a classic design: acanthus leaves at the base lead to scrolling foliage, intertwined with birds, and a bird crowns the ornamentation against a gilded, punch-tooled background. The central Corinthian capitals are adorned with a bucranium (ox skull) and a serpent passing through its eye socket, symbolising the fleeting nature of life, rebirth and transformation.
The entablature frieze features intricate details including a repeat palmette and acanthus-leaf pattern on either side of scrolling flowers set on a dark blue background. The cornice includes classical motifs such as double bead-and-reel, lamb’s-tongue, egg-and-dart, and flutes on the corona, which is supported by leaf brackets. The arch-shaped slip has engraved decorations in the spandrels, while the inner edge is adorned with a leaf motif.
This replica altar frame is modelled on the portal ornaments of the Church of San Giobbe in Venice, carved by Pietro Lombardo (about 1435–1515).
The original frame had a deep rebate to conceal the unpainted parts of the panel and a wide strip of bare wood at the bottom to slot behind the predella for stabilisation.
When the National Gallery acquired Raphael’s ‘The Ansidei Madonna’, it was in a square, neoclassical French Empire-style frame with spandrels to create an arched shape. This frame is also seen in a photograph of it on display at Blenheim Palace around 1860. The frame rested on three rounded, bun-shaped feet positioned above an elegant mantelpiece. The painting, acquired with this frame, was displayed in the centre of the Gallery and draped with a curtain.
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Raphael painted this altarpiece for the Ansidei family chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas in the Servite Church of S. Fiorenzo in Perugia. The date MDV (1505) is inscribed in gold on the hem of the Virgin’s mantle.
The altarpiece would have consisted of the main panel, featuring the enthroned Virgin and Christ Child flanked by Saint Nicholas on the right and Saint John the Baptist on the left, and a lower horizontal set of painted panels collectively known as a predella. One of the two narrative scenes from the predella, Saint John the Baptist preaching, is also in the National Gallery’s collection. The other predella scene, which probably depicted a posthumous miracle of Saint Nicholas, is missing. Each narrative scene would have been positioned beneath the saint in the main panel to whom it related.
