Francesco Bissolo, 'The Virgin and Child with Saints and Donors', probably 1500-25
About the work
Overview
The Virgin Mary sits in the countryside outside a distant town, holding the naked, wriggling Christ Child on her lap. Archangel Michael is identified by his name inscribed on the neckline of his robes. Saint Veronica holds the veil on which the image of Christ’s face was miraculously imprinted when he passed her on his way to be crucified. The two unidentified donors of the altarpiece, probably husband and wife, may have been named after the saints who present them to the Virgin and Child.
The pose of the Virgin and Child occurs frequently in the work of Bissolo and was probably invented by Giovanni Bellini in about 1500. It seems to first appear in the Madonna and Child with a Patron by Giovanni Bellini and workshop, recently in the collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson in Princeton, for which Bissolo painted the donor portrait. Bissolo is described as a pupil of Bellini and seems to have been a frequent collaborator, employed to add donor portraits to Bellini’s Madonnas.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Virgin and Child with Saints Michael and Veronica and Two Donors
- Artist
- Francesco Bissolo
- Artist dates
- active 1492; died 1554
- Date made
- probably 1500-25
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 62.2 × 84.1 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Layard Bequest, 1916
- Inventory number
- NG3083
- 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
-
1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
-
1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
-
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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