Follower of Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, 'The Virgin and Child', probably about 1500
About the work
Overview
The Virgin Mary stands behind a parapet on which the Christ Child is seated. In one hand Christ holds an apple – it symbolises the Fall of Man, from which he was believed to offer redemption. With the other, he twists to reach out for the flower his mother offers him.
Painted in around 1500, this small panel is one of a number derived from Leonardo’s Madonna Litta (State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg). The artist has drawn on the works of several of Leonardo’s followers, creating a kind of jigsaw based on bits of compositions by other artists. The views through the windows are perhaps where he expressed his own personality – a tiny woman does her washing in a river on the left, and a man with a bundle on a stick over his shoulder walks through the fields on the right.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Virgin and Child
- Artist
- Follower of Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio
- Artist dates
- about 1467 - 1516
- Date made
- probably about 1500
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 50.9 × 37.8 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Salting Bequest, 1910
- Inventory number
- NG2496
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1902C. Phillips, 'Old Masters at the Royal Academy', Daily Telegraph, 1902
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1910C. Phillips, 'The Salting Collection, II: The Italian Pictures', The Burlington Magazine, XVII/85, 1910, pp. 9-22
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1959R.R. Henry, Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio: A Stylistic Study of His Work, Phd Thesis, Boston University Graduate School 1959
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1961M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
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1968B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works, with an Index of Places: Central Italian and North Italian Schools, revised edn, 3 vols, London 1968
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1968F.R. Shapley, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection, vol. 2, Italian Schools XV-XVI Century, London 1968
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1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
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1989D. Sedini, Marco d'Oggiono: Tradizione e rinnovamento in Lombardia tra Quattrocento e Cinquecento, Milan 1989
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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.
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