Niccolò di Buonaccorso, 'The Marriage of the Virgin', about 1380
About the work
Overview
This is a rare example of a work by Niccolò di Buonaccorso – one of the most gifted Sienese artists of the fourteenth century. The panel belongs to a series of three: the others show the Virgin as a child in The Presentation of the Virgin (Uffizi, Florence) and The Coronation of the Virgin by Christ after her death (Lehman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).
According to legend the Virgin had many suitors who took part in a competition for her hand in marriage. They all took rods to the Temple and the one whose rod flowered was successful. Joseph’s rod has sprouted leaves and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove has landed upon it.
The artist has included his hometown in his signature: NICHOLAVS. BONACHVRSI. DE SENIS. ME P[I]NXIT (‘Niccolò di Buonaccorso of Siena painted me’). This suggests the picture may have been made for a patron who was not from Siena. The marriage of the Virgin was more popular in Florence than Siena.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Marriage of the Virgin
- Artist
- Niccolò di Buonaccorso
- Artist dates
- documented 1372; died 1388
- Date made
- about 1380
- Medium and support
- egg tempera on wood
- Dimensions
- 50.9 × 33 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1881
- Inventory number
- NG1109
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 14th-century Sienese Frame (original frame)
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Dillian Gordon, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Italian Paintings before 1400’, London 2011; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
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2014Making ColourThe National Gallery (London)18 June 2014 - 7 September 2014
Bibliography
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1854G. Milanesi, Documenti per la storia dell'arte senese, 3 vols, Siena 1854
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1885National Gallery, Abridged Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery: With Short Biographical Notices of the Painters: Foreign Schools, London 1885
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1887Mrs Jameson, The Legends of the Madonna as Represented in the Fine Arts, Boston 1887
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1899E. Ridolfi, Le Gallerie nazionali italiane, vol. 4, Florence 1899
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1965L. Marcucci, Gallerie Nazionali di Firenze: I dipinti toscani del secolo XIV, Rome 1965
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1975J. Mills, Carpets in Pictures, London 1975
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1980M. Boskovits, 'Su Niccolò di Buonaccorso, Benedetto di Bindo e la pittura senese del primo quattrocento', Paragone, XXXI, 1980, pp. 2-22
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1981E. Carli, La pittura senese del Trecento, Milan 1981
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1983J. Mills, Carpets in Paintings (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 1 June - 24 July 1983), London 1983
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1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
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1987J. Pope-Hennessy, The Robert Lehman Collection, 1: Italian Paintings, New York 1987
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1988Gordon, Dillian, National Gallery Catalogues: The Early Italian Schools before 1400, revised edn, London 1988
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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
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1991J. Dunkerton et al., Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, New Haven 1991
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1993J. de Voragine, The Golden Legend, Princeton 1993
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1993R. White and J. Pilc, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XIV, 1993, pp. 86-94
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1994A. Thomas, An Illustrated Dictionary of Narrative Painting, London 1994
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1996H.B.J. Maginnis, 'Niccolò di Buonaccorso', in J. Turner (ed.), The Dictionary of Art, London 1996, vol. 23, pp. 90-1
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1997G.C. Dini, A. Angelini and B. Sani, Pittura senese, Milan 1997
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1997P. Palladino, Art and Devotion in Siena after 1350: Luca di Tommè and Niccolò di Buonaccorso (exh. cat. Timken Museum of Art, 12 December 1997 - 12 April 1998), San Diego 1997
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2011Gordon, Dillian, National Gallery Catalogues: The Italian Paintings before 1400, London 2011
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.