Andrea del Sarto, 'The Madonna and Child, Saint Elizabeth and the Baptist', about 1513

The Madonna and Child, Saint Elizabeth and the Baptist

Andrea del Sarto

Not on display

About the work

Overview

The Virgin Mary is seated with her cousin Saint Elizabeth and their sons in a rocky landscape. The infant Christ reclines on his mother’s lap, resting against her arm and laughing mischievously. This is a reduced version of the ‘Tallard Madonna’ (State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg) signed by Andrea del Sarto, which shows the Madonna and Child with Saints Elizabeth, John the Baptist and Catherine in a lively scene conversing with one another. Saint Catherine is missing from the National Gallery version and there are also a few other small differences.

This type of picture in which the Virgin is surrounded by saints is known as a sacra conversazione (‘holy conversation’). The gestures and interconnected glances suggest a psychological exchange.

The infant John the Baptist’s reed cross and scroll inscribed ‘Ecce Agnus Dei’ (‘Behold the Lamb of God’) lie at his feet, reminding the viewer of Christ’s future crucifixion and sacrifice for humanity.

In-depth

The Virgin Mary is seated with her cousin Saint Elizabeth and their sons in a rocky landscape. The infant Christ reclines on his mother’s lap resting against her arm. Due to damage it is difficult to make out the gesture of his right hand. He leans his head back and laughs mischievously.

This is a reduced version of the ‘Tallard Madonna’ (State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg) signed by Andrea del Sarto, which shows the Madonna and Child with Saints Elizabeth, John the Baptist and Catherine in a lively scene conversing with one another. Saint Catherine is missing from the National Gallery version and there are also a few other small differences: in the ‘Tallard Madonna’ Christ turns back to look at Saint Catherine (who gazes at the viewer) and points to direct her attention to Saint Elizabeth; the figures are also slightly larger in scale. There is another copy of the Hermitage picture in the Royal Collection, Windsor.

The Virgin’s hands support her son’s back and rest on his leg in a very natural way, as though Sarto has observed and drawn from a real mother and child. The infant John the Baptist nestles beneath his mother’s protective arm and leans against her raised knee. He is pointing to something but it is not clear what that is. His reed cross and scroll inscribed ‘Ecce Agnus Dei’ (‘Behold the Lamb of God’) lie on the ground at his feet. They remind the viewer of Christ’s future crucifixion and sacrifice for humanity.

This type of picture in which the Virgin is surrounded by saints is known as a sacra conversazione. The gestures and interconnected glances suggest a psychological exchange.

The oval face of the Virgin with her small round dark eyes is a recognisable trait of Andrea del Sarto’s figures, and may be based on the features of his wife, Lucrezia del Fede. Sculptural draperies with angular folds, seen here in Saint Elizabeth’s robes, are also typical of his work, and are evident in the voluminous blue sleeve of his Portrait of a Young Man.

There are many pentimenti – instances where the artist changed his mind during painting – suggesting that this is an original work by Sarto, possibly with studio assistance in less important areas such as the landscape. The dark lines of the underdrawing can also be seen through the paint in some parts, particularly the flesh. Some of the changes altered the picture so that in its final form it was more like the ‘Tallard Madonna’, suggesting that the National Gallery’s picture may have been made first.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Madonna and Child with Saint Elizabeth and Saint John the Baptist
Artist: Andrea del Sarto
Artist dates: 1486 - 1530
Date made: about 1513
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 106 × 81.3 cm
Acquisition credit: Holwell Carr Bequest, 1831
Inventory number: NG17
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: Revd William Holwell Carr
Frame: 17th-century Italian Frame

Provenance

Recorded by Ramdohr (1787) and by Vasi (1797) in the Villa Aldobrandini, Rome and therefore probably identical with a Sarto which is listed in the Aldobrandini inventories of 1603 and later. Purchased in Rome, 1805, through Camuccini, for Buchanan by Irvine who stated that it had come from the Villa Aldobrandini. Selected on arrival in England by the Rev. Holwell Carr who had already purchased from Champernowne and Buchanan a sixth share in this and other pictures to be imported. Exh. B.I., 1816 (3), lent Holwell Carr. Holwell Carr Bequest, 1831.

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.

Bibliography

1787

F.W.B. von Ramdohr, Über Mahlerei und Bildhauerarbeit in Rom für Liebhaber des Schönen in der Kunst, Leipzig 1787
1797

G.A. Vasi, Itinéraire instructif de Rome, Rome 1797
1818

H. Tresham, W.Y. Ottley and P.W. Tomkins, The British Gallery of Pictures, London 1818
1824

W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting: With a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England Since the French Revolution, London 1824
1835

A. von Reumont, Andrea del Sarto, Leipzig 1835
1843

W. Hazlitt, Criticisms on Art and Sketches of the Picture Galleries of England with Catalogues of the Principal Pictures, London 1843
1843

L. Viardot, Les musées d'Espagne, d'Angleterre et de Belgique, Paris 1843
1854

G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], vol. 2, trans. E. Eastlake, London 1854
1864

G.F. Waagen, Die Gemäldesammlungen in der Kaiserlichen Ermitage zu St Petersburg, Munich 1864
1881

F. Reiset, Une visite à la Galerie nationale de Londres, Paris 1881
1883

J.P. Richter, Italian Art in the National Gallery, London 1883
1899

H. Guinness, Andrea del Sarto, London 1899
1901

E. Jacobsen, 'Italienische Gemälde in der National Galerie zu London: Kritische Notizen zum Katalog von 1898', Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, XXIV, 1901
1935

I. Fraenckel, Andrea del Sarto: Gemälde und Zeichnungen, Strasbourg 1935
1960

P. Della Pergola, 'Gli inventari Aldobrandini: Inventario del 1626', Arte antica e moderna, XII/100, 1960, pp. 425-44
1961

S.J. Freedberg, Painting of the High Renaissance in Rome and Florence, Cambridge MA 1961
1962

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools (excluding the Venetian), London 1962
1963

B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Work, with an Index of Places: Florentine School, 2 vols, New York 1963
1963

S.J. Freedberg, Andrea del Sarto: Catalogue Raisonné, Cambridge MA 1963
1963

P. Della Pergola, 'Gli inventari Aldobrandini: L'inventario del 1682, II', Arte antica e moderna, 21, 1963, pp. 61-87
1964

C. Onofrio, 'Inventario dei dipinti del Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, compilato da G.B. Agucchi nel 1603', Palatino, VIII, 1964, pp. 15-20, 158-62, 202-11
1965

J. Shearman, Andrea del Sarto, Oxford 1965
1975

C. Gould, Delaroche and Gautier: Gautier's Views on the 'Execution of Lady Jane Grey' and on other Compositions by Delaroche, London 1975
1978

A. Macintyre and K. Garlick (eds), The Diary of Joseph Farington, vol. 5, New Haven 1978-1984
1982

H. Brigstocke and W. Buchanan, William Buchanan and the 19th Century Art Trade: 100 Letters to his Agents in London and Italy, London 1982
1987

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
1989

A. Cecchi and A. Natali, Andrea del Sarto: Catalogo completo dei dipinti, Florence 1989
1993

National Gallery, 'Pictures Cleaned and Restored in the Conservation Department of the National Gallery, October 1993 - September 1994', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XVI, 1995
1995

R. White and J. Pilc, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XVI, 1995, pp. 85-95
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001

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.

Images

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Portrait of a Young Man