Titian, 'The Aldobrandini Madonna', about 1532
About the work
Overview
The Virgin and Child are accompanied by the young Saint John the Baptist and a kneeling woman, who cannot be clearly identified. She holds the infant Christ in her arms and gazes at him in adoration.
It is not clear which, if any, New Testament episode is shown here. The shepherd and herdsman in the middle distance – and the angel in the sky – might allude to the Annunciation to the Shepherds (Luke 2: 8–17) and suggest the birth of Christ. However, the presence of John the Baptist, who gives the Virgin fruit and flowers for his baby cousin, would be more appropriate to a Rest on the Flight into Egypt – but we would expect Saint Joseph to be included in such a scene.
This must be a non-narrative picture intended for private devotion, combining selected elements from the life of Christ.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John and a Female Saint or Donor ('The Aldobrandini Madonna')
- Artist
- Titian
- Artist dates
- active about 1506; died 1576
- Date made
- about 1532
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 100.6 × 142.2 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1860
- Inventory number
- NG635
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 16th-century Italian Frame
Provenance
Referred to by Mündler in a note dating from 1856 as being then in the Beaucousin collection in Paris and formerly in the Coesvelt collection. It is therefore identifiable with the picture engraved as plate 16 in the catalogue (printed in 1836) of the collection of W. G. Coesvelt, London, which figured as lots 15 and 47 respectively in the Coesvelt sales, Christie’s, 2nd June, 1837 and 13th June, 1840 (bought in on the first occasion and perhaps also on the second). In all three of these catalogues stated to have come from the sacristy of the Escorial and therefore fairly certainly identifiable with a picture included in a batch of forty-one sent in 1656 by Velázquez to the Escorial by order of Philip IV: Otro del mesmo artífice [i.e. Titian] de un Deposorio de Santa Caterina. Está Nuestra Señora sentada en un pays; el Niño echado en su regaço; la Santa arrodillada haciéndole caricias; San loan Baptista niño, que trae una fruta á la Virgen que alarga la mano para tomarla ... Las figuras menores que el natural. Tiene de alto tres piés y medio, de largo casi cinco. The same picture was described by Francisco de los Santos and by Andres Ximenez in their works on the Escorial. The date (1764) of the latter work (in which the picture is still specified as in the Escorial sacristy) would seem to preclude the identification proposed by Crowe and Cavalcaselle with a picture in the collection of the Duc de Noailles in Paris in 1720. According to Velázquez’ memoir the picture seems to have been one of those presented to Philip IV by the Duke de Medina de las Torres on his return to Spain from Italy. Therefore very possibly identical with the Madonna vestita di turchino col Putto, che sta’ con le braccia alte giocando con una donna in ginocchio, che l’abbraccia con S. Giovanno putto a banda dritta, al quale la Madonna porge un flore ... di Titiano which appears in the inventory of 1603 of Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini (where it is marked as presented to Cardinal Ludovisi in 1621) and which figures in the Ludovisi inventory of 1633 (44). Alternatively it could have reached Spain on the return of Medina de las Torres’ predecessor, the Conde de Monterrey, who brought with him the two Titian bacchanals (now in the Prado, but also ex-Aldobrandini and ex-Ludovisi). Purchased with the Beaucousin collection, 1860.
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Cecil Gould, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1987; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2015Splendors of the Renaissance in Venice: Andrea Schiavone among Parmigianino, Tintoretto and TitianMuseo Correr28 November 2015 - 10 April 2016
Bibliography
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1836Mrs Jameson, Collection of Pictures of W. G. Coesvelt, Esq., of London, with an Introduction by Mrs Jameson, London 1836
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1837Christie & Manson, A Catalogue of the Splendid Collection of Italian Pictures, the Property of W. G. Coesvelt, Esq., Removed from the Gallery in Carlton Gardens, London, 2 June 1837 - 3 June 1837
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1840Christie, Manson & Woods, A Catalogue of the Magnificent Collection of Italian Pictures, of the Very Highest Class: The Property of that Distinguished Connoisseur, W. G. Coesvelt, Esq., London, 13 June 1840
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1877J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, Titian: His Life and Times, London 1877
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1884M. Michiel, Notizia d'opere di disegno, eds J. Morelli and G. Frizzoni, Bologna 1884
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1903O. Fischel, Tizian: Des Meisters Gemälde, Berlin 1903
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1910J.P. Richter, The Mond Collection: An Appreciation, London 1910
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1930C. Holmes, 'The Italian Exhibition', The Burlington Magazine, LVI/323, 1930, pp. 55-72
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1935W. Suida, Le Titien, Paris 1935
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1936H. Tietze, Titian: Leben und Werk, 2 vols, Vienna 1936
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1955G.A. Dell'Acqua, Tiziano, Milan 1955
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1957B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works, with an Index of Places: Venetian School, 2 vols, London 1957
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1959Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Venetian School, London 1959
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1961E.J. Beer, Festchrift Hans R. Hahnloser: zum 60. Geburtstag 1959, Basel 1961
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1969H.E. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian: The Religious Paintings, 3 vols, London 1969
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1975C. Gould, Delaroche and Gautier: Gautier's Views on the 'Execution of Lady Jane Grey' and on other Compositions by Delaroche, London 1975
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1977J. Steer, 'Mr Bacon's Titian: The Selwyn Brinton Lecture', Royal Society of Arts Journal, CXXV/5254, 1977
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1978R. Pallucchini, Tiziano e il Manierismo europeo, Florence 1978
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1987Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
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1987K. Christiansen, 'Titianus (Per)fecit', Apollo, CXXV/301, 1987, pp. 190-6
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1990S. Biadene and M. Yakushs, Titian: Prince of Painters (exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale (Venice), 2 June - 7 October 1990; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 28 October 1990 - 27 January 1991), Venice 1990
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1992D. Rosand, 'Pastoral Topoi: On the Construction of Meaning in Landscape', Studies in the History of Art, XXXVI, 1992, pp. 160-77
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1992H.W. van Os, Titian/Titiaan, Ludovico Carracci (exh. cat. Rijksmuseum, 15 September - 8 November 1992), Meeting of Masterpieces 2, Amsterdam 1992
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1993D. Rosand, Titien: 'L'art plus fort que la nature', Paris 1993
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1994F. Checa, Tiziano y la monarquía hispánica: Usos y funciones de la pintura veneciana en España (siglos XVI y XVII), Madrid 1994
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1999P. Hills, Venetian Colour: Marble, Mosaic, Painting and Glass, 1250-1550, London 1999
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1999Museo Nacional del Prado, Tiziano: Técnicas y restauraciones: Actas del Simposium Internacional celebrado en el Museo Nacional del Prado los días 3, 4 y 5 junio de 1999, Madrid 1999
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2000A.J. Martin, '"Amica e un albergo di virtuosi": La casa e la collezione di Andrea Odoni', Venezia cinquecento, X/19, 2000, pp. 153-70
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2001F. Pedrocco, Titian: The Complete Paintings, London 2001
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2003D. Jaffé (ed.), Titian, London 2003
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2003R. Wollheim, 'The Body Unfolding', Modern Painters, XVI/2, 2003, pp. 84-9
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2003M. Falomir Faus (ed.), Tiziano (exh. cat. Museo Nacional del Prado, 10 June - 7 September 2003), Madrid 2003
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2003C. Hope et al., Titian (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 19 February - 18 May 2003; Museo Nacional del Prado, 10 June - 7 September 2003), London 2003
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2005U.R. D'Elia, The Poetics of Titian's Religious Paintings, Cambridge 2005
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2006V. Tátrai, 'Titian and the Venetian Madonna', Bulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts, 105, 2006, pp. 154-6
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2008P. Moioli and C. Seccaroni, 'I pigmenti sulle tele dipinte a tempera sino al Rinascimento', Arte lombarda, 153, 2008, pp. 29-34
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
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