Marco d'Oggiono, 'The Virgin and Child', probably about 1520
About the work
Overview
The Virgin Mary is seated on the ground in a rocky landscape with the Christ Child on her knee. He reaches out for the flower that his mother has just picked.
D‘Oggiono trained in Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop and both the style and composition of this painting seem to reflect models he had learned during his youth. He is clearly trying to imitate Leonardo’s famous sfumato (’smoky’) technique – blurring the outlines of a form – and his palette is softer than in earlier works, such as Portrait of a Man aged 20 (also in the National Gallery). D'Oggiono never mastered anatomy or expression, however: Christ’s hands are podgy and boneless, and he looks somewhat vapid.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Virgin and Child
- Artist
- Marco d'Oggiono
- Artist dates
- documented from 1487; died 1524
- Date made
- probably about 1520
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 66.7 × 53.3 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1883
- Inventory number
- NG1149
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
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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1856Palazzo Manfrin, Catalogo dei quadri esistenti nella Galleria Manfrin in Venezia, n.p. 1856
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1872B. Plattis, Pinacoteca Manfrin a Venezia, Venice 1872
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1884National Gallery, Abridged Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery: With Short Biographical Notices of the Painters: Foreign Schools, London 1884
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1887W. Armstrong, 'Notes on the National Gallery', The Guardian, 1887
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1888E.T. Cook, A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery Including, by Special Permission, Notes Collected from the Works of Mr. Ruskin, London 1888
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1889National Gallery, Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery with Biographical Notices of the Painters: Foreign Schools, London 1889
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1891G. Frizzoni, 'L'arte italiana nella Galleria Nazionale di Londra', in Arte Italiana del Rinascimento, Milan 1891
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1923C.J. Holmes, Old Masters and Modern Art: The National Gallery, Italian Schools, London 1923
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1927W.G. Constable, 'Marco d'Oggiono', Old Master Drawings, II, 1927, pp. 20-2
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1960G. Morelli, Italienische Malerie der Renaissance: Im Briefwechsel von Giovanni Morelli und Jean Paul Richter, 1876-1891, ed. I.A. Richter, Baden Baden 1960
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1961M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
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1976G. Marcora, Marco d'Oggiono, Oggiono 1976
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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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1996J. Shell, 'Marco d'Oggiono', in J. Turner (ed.), The Dictionary of Art, London 1996, vol. 23
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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.
Images
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