Francesco d'Antonio di Bartolomeo, 'The Virgin and Child with Six Angels and Two Cherubim', about 1440-50
About the work
Overview
This is a very unusual depiction of the Virgin Mary. She is shown standing, with eyes trained towards the viewer, the Christ Child perched in the crook of her arm. Her attire is exceptionally sumptuous and, as with the garments of the surrounding angels, it reflects contemporary Florentine fashions.
This type of costume would have looked out of place on an altarpiece, but it’s possible that the painting was made for someone who would have placed it in their bedroom to worship privately. These sorts of private images of the Virgin and Child were often made for women – in this case, perhaps a very wealthy woman who would have been able to identify more closely with the Virgin if she resembled one of her contemporaries. There is some evidence that images like this were given as wedding gifts.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Virgin and Child with Six Angels and Two Cherubim
- Artist dates
- born 1393; last documented 1452
- Date made
- about 1440-50
- Medium and support
- egg tempera on wood
- Dimensions
- 113.4 × 65 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by J. P. Heseltine, 1895
- Inventory number
- NG1456
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Dillian Gordon, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Italian Paintings’, vol. 1, London 2003; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1903B. Berenson, 'A Sienese Painter of the Franciscan Legend, II', The Burlington Magazine, III/8, 1903, pp. 171-84
-
1923R. van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, 19 vols, The Hague 1923
-
1925E. Hutton, The Sienese School in the National Gallery, London 1925
-
1928R. Longhi, 'Ricerche su Giovanni di Francesco', Pinacotheca, 1928
-
1929M. Salmi, 'Francesco d'Antonio Fiorentino', Rivista d'arte, I, 1929, pp. 1-24
-
1932G. Gronau, 'Francesco di Antonio pittore fiorentino', Rivista d'arte, XIV, 1932, pp. 382-3
-
1934G. Pudelko, 'Studien über Domenico Veneziano', Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, IV, 1934, pp. 145-200
-
1940R. Longhi, 'Fatti di Masolino e di Masaccio', Critica d'arte, V, 1940, pp. 145-91
-
1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
-
1961M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
-
1963B. 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
-
1965C. Shell, 'Francesco d'Antonio and Masaccio', Art Bulletin, 1965, pp. 465-9
-
1975R. Fremantle, Florentine Gothic Painters from Giotto to Masaccio: A Guide to Painting in and Near Florence 1300 to 1450, London 1975
-
1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
-
1989National Gallery, 'Pictures Cleaned and Restored in the Conservation Department of the National Gallery, January 1989 – October 1992', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XIV, 1993, pp. 95-6
-
1990L. Berti and A. Paolucci, L'età di Masaccio: Il Primo Quattrocento a Firenze, (exh. cat. Palazzo Vecchio, 7 June - 16 September 1990), Milan 1990
-
1996E.W. Rowlands, The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Italian Paintings 1300-1800, Kansas City 1996
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
-
2003Gordon, Dillian, National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Italian Paintings, 1, London 2003
-
2005V. Maggi, 'Note su Francesco d'Antonio, pittore fiorentino del primo Quattrocento', Arte Cristiana, XCIII/831, 2005, pp. 417-24
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.