Raphael, 'The Garvagh Madonna', about 1510-11

The Garvagh Madonna

Raphael

Not on display

About the work

Overview

In this little picture Raphael depicts the moment when the Christ Child takes a carnation, traditionally symbolic of divine love and the Passion (Christ’s torture and crucifixion), from his cousin John the Baptist’s hand. The space between the children’s hands is the centre of the careful geometry of the composition, emphasising this important moment of Christ’s acceptance of his future sacrifice for humanity. The Virgin appears lost in melancholy thought. Perhaps she is thinking of the children’s destinies.

The picture is one of several small and medium-sized Madonnas that Raphael produced at the same time as he was painting a suite of rooms in the Vatican palace for the pope, the so-called stanze. It was probably made for a member of the papal court for private devotion, although we do not know who commissioned it. The painting is known as the Garvagh Madonna or Aldobrandini Madonna after its previous owner.

In-depth

This is one of several small and medium-sized Madonnas made by Raphael in the years immediately following his arrival in Rome, at the same time as he was painting his masterwork – a suite of rooms in the Vatican palace for the pope, the so-called papal stanze. It was probably produced for a member of the papal court for private devotion, although we do not know who commissioned it. The painting is now known as the Garvagh Madonna or the Aldobrandini Madonna after two of its previous owners.

The Virgin Mary sits in a complex twisting pose – sideways on a simple bench or plinth with one leg tucked under the other. She wears a blue, green and gold striped headdress bound up into a turban-like arrangement which was probably fashionable in Rome during Raphael’s time. The infant Christ sits on his mother’s lap, looking down towards the young John the Baptist, who passes him a red carnation – symbolic of divine love and Christ’s future Passion. Their gazes suggest the thoughts that pass between them. The space between the children’s hands is the very centre of the careful geometry of the composition, emphasised by the lines of the architectural backdrop and the Virgin’s features.

Christ’s pose is very natural, although he seems to have an awareness greater than his years. The Virgin appears lost in melancholy thought as she draws John the Baptist’s soft fur pelt closer to him and gathers her mantle to cover the naked Christ. Perhaps she is thinking of the children’s destinies.

Two arched openings either side of the Virgin reveal views reminiscent of the countryside outside Rome. Through the left-hand arch is a church with a bell tower and hills shrouded in blue haze. A larger building, possibly also a church, is visible through the right-hand arch. In the underdrawing, the landscape continues beneath the central architecture, suggesting that Raphael first intended to set the figures before a simple stone parapet but then changed his mind. The vivid colours of the Virgin’s clothes – the bright pink of her dress and two subtly different blues of her shirt and mantle – are echoed in the more soft and faded pastel hues of the misty landscape.

A study for the painting on pink paper in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Lille, shows that Raphael experimented with different positions for the children. There is no sign that the design for the final painting was transferred from a drawing, but there is a very precise geometrical plan in the underdrawing on the panel.

The dark backdrop and mouldings of the architecture very effectively frame the Virgin’s oval face and the delicate bend of her neck. This approach of showing the Virgin in an interior between two arched windows occurs in early works by Leonardo, and it is possible that Raphael had these examples in mind. The complex psychological interaction between the figures also reflects earlier innovations by Leonardo. The figures are perfectly integrated into their setting, creating a sense of order and calm contemplation. Raphael makes divine harmony visible through geometry.

Want to find out more?

Delve deeper and explore the catalogue entry for this painting.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Madonna and Child with the Infant Baptist (The Garvagh Madonna)
Artist: Raphael
Artist dates: 1483 - 1520
Date made: about 1510-11
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 38.9 × 32.9 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1865
Inventory number: NG744
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 20th-century Replica Frame

Provenance

Probably in the collection of Lucrezia d’Este, wife of Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino (1549–1631) by 1571, received as part of a gift of pictures, jewels and silver from the city of Urbino and her father‐in‐law Guidobaldo della Rovere (1514–1574). Bequeathed to Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini (1571–1621), Rome, as her residuary legatee, and recorded in his collection by 1603. By inheritance to his sister, Olimpia Aldobrandini senior (1567–1637) and given by her in 1626 to her son Cardinal Ippolito Aldonbrandini (1596–1638), as part of a collection of 190 paintings and her brother’s villa at Monte Magnanapoli. By inheritance to his niece, Olimpia Aldobrandini Borghese Pamphili, Princess of Meldola (1623–1681). Probably then by descent to her eldest son, Giovanni Battista Borghese (1639–1717), 2nd Prince of Sulmona, by whom bequeathed to his son Marcantonio III Borghese (1660–1729) and subsequently by descent to his son Camillo I Borghese (1693–1763). Recorded in 1787 in the mezzanine apartments of the Palazzo Borghese in the collection of Paolo Maria Borghese (1733–1792). By inheritance to his younger brother, Giovanni Battista Borghese Aldobrandini (d. 1802), from whom acquired before October 1799 by the art dealer Alexander Day (1773–1841), acting with Pietro (1760–1833) and Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844). Sent to London by October 1800 and displayed for sale at the London gallery of the painter Henry Tresham at 20 Lower Brook Street. Acquired in 1818 by George Canning, 1st Baron Garvagh (1778–1840). By inheritance to his widow Charlotte Isabella Rosabella Bonham (known as Rosabelle; 1804–1891), from whom purchased by the National Gallery in 1865.

Additional information

Text adapted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Carol Plazzotta and Tom Henry, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings’, vol. 4, ‘Raphael’, London 2022; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2012

The Sistine Madonna: Raphael's Iconic Painting Turns 500

Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Dresden)

26 May 2012 - 26 August 2012
2017

Raphael and the Eloquence of Drawing

Albertina

26 September 2017 - 7 January 2018
2019

Raphael and the friends of Urbino

Galleria Nazionale delle Marche

3 October 2019 - 19 January 2020
2022

The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Raphael

The National Gallery (London)

9 April 2022 - 31 July 2022
2023

Masterpieces from the National Gallery

Shanghai Art Museum East

17 January 2023 - 7 May 2023

National Museum of Korea

2 June 2023 - 9 October 2023

Hong Kong Palace Museum

22 November 2023 - 11 April 2024

Chimei Museum

2 May 2024 - 1 September 2024
2024

Expérience Raphael

Palais des Beaux-Arts (Lille)

18 October 2024 - 17 February 2025

Bibliography

1650

G. Manilli, Villa Borghese fuori di Porta Pinciana, Rome 1650
1787

F.W.B. von Ramdohr, Über Mahlerei und Bildhauerarbeit in Rom für Liebhaber des Schönen in der Kunst, Leipzig 1787
1824

W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting: With a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England Since the French Revolution, London 1824
1860

J.D. Passavant, Raphaël d'Urbin et son père Giovanni Santi, Paris 1860
1882

J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, Raphael: His Life and Works, 2 vols, London 1882
1891

G. Frizzoni, Arte italiana del Rinascimento, Milan 1891
1913

O. Fischel, Raphaels Zeichnungen, Berlin 1913
1920

A. Venturi, Raffaello, Rome 1920
1923

A. Rosenberg, Raffael, des Meisters Gemälde, in 274 Abbildungen, ed. G. Gronau, Berlin 1923
1935

A.E. Popham, Catalogue of Drawings in the Collection formed by Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart., F.R.S., Now in the Possession of His Grandson T. Fitzroy Phillipps Fenwick of Thirlestaine House, Cheltenham, London 1935
1936

G. Gronau, Documenti artistici urbinati, Florence 1936
1938

K. Clark, 'The Aesthetics of Restoration', Proceedings of the Royal Institution, XXX/382-403, 1938
1939

O. Fischel, 'Raphael's Pink Sketch-Book', The Burlington Magazine, LXXIV, 1939, pp. 181-7
1948

O. Fischel, Raphael, trans. B. Rackham, London 1948
1959

P. Della Pergola, 'L'inventario del 1592 di Lucrezia d'Este', Arte antica e moderna, VII/2, 1959, pp. 342-51
1962

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools (excluding the Venetian), London 1962
1962

E. Camesasca (ed.), Tutta la pittura de Raffaello, 2nd edn, Milan 1962
1962

P. Pouncey and J. Gere, Italian Drawings in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum: Raphael and His Circle, London 1962
1966

P. de Vecchi, L'opera completa di Raffaello, Milan 1966
1970

J. Pope-Hennessy, Raphael: The Wrightsman Lectures Delivered under the Auspices of the New York Institute of Fine Arts, London 1970
1971

L. Düssler, Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of His Pictures, Wall-Paintings and Tapestries, trans. S. Cruft, London 1971
1975

C. Gould, Delaroche and Gautier: Gautier's Views on the 'Execution of Lady Jane Grey' and on other Compositions by Delaroche, London 1975
1981

A. Brejon de Lavergnée and D. Thiébaut, Italie, Espagne, Allemagne, Grande-Bretagne et divers, Catalogue sommaire illustré des peinture du Musée du Louvre 2, Paris 1981
1982

P. de Vecchi, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Raphael, Paris 1982
1983

J.-P. Cuzin, Raphaël: Vie et oeuvre, Fribourg 1983
1983

P. Joannides, The Drawings of Raphael: With a Complete Catalogue, Oxford 1983
1983

E. Ullmann, Raffael, Leipzig 1983
1984

G. Barberini, D. Bernini and S. Stacciolis, Raffaello nelle raccolte Borghese (exh. cat. Museo e Galleria Borghese, January - Mar 1984), Rome 1984
1987

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
1987

G. Dalli Regoli, '"Non… da natura, ma per lungo studio": Riferimenti, citazione e rielaborazione nelle Madonne di Raffaello', in M. Sambucco Hamoud and M.L. Strocchi (eds), Studi su Raffaello: Atti del Congresso Internazionale di Studi Urbino and Florence, 6-14 April 1984, Urbino 1987, pp. 419-28
1988

B. Bohn, 'Bartolommeo Passarotti and Reproductive Etching in Sixteenth-Century Italy', Print Quarterly, V, 1988, pp. 115-27
1989

S.F. Pagden and M.A. Zancan, Raffaello: Catalogo completo dei dipinti, Florence 1989
1990

J. Plesters, 'Technical Aspects of some Paintings by Raphael in the National Gallery', in J. Shearman and M.B. Hall (eds), The Princeton Raphael Symposium: Science in the Service of Art History, Princeton 1990, pp. 15-37
1992

N. Penny, 'Raphael's "Madonna dei Garofani" Rediscovered', The Burlington Magazine, CXXXIV, 1992, pp. 67-81
1993

J. Dunkerton and N. Penny, 'The Infra-Red Examination of Raphael's "Garvagh Madonna"', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XIV, 1993, pp. 6-21
1994

C. Scailliérez, 'Une ébauche de Parmesan (1503-1540), pour le Louvre, un don de la Société des Amis du Louvre', Revue du Louvre, XLIII, 1994, pp. 27-37
1995

P. de Vecchi, Raffaello: La mimesi, l'armonia e l'invenzione, Florence 1995
1999

R. Freiherr Hiller von Gaertringen, Raffaels Lernerfahrungen in der Werkstatt Peruginos: Kartonverwendung und Motivübernahme im Wandel, Munich 1999
1999

K. Oberhuber, Raphael: The Paintings, Munich 1999
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2001

C. Höper (ed.), Raffael und Die Folgen: Das Kunstwerk in Zeitaltern seiner graphischen Reproduzierbarkeit, Ostfildern-Ruit 2001
2002

D. Bomford et al., Underdrawings in Renaissance Paintings (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 30 October 2002 - 16 February 2003), London 2002
2004

A. Roy, M. Spring and C. Plazzotta, 'Raphael's Early Work in the National Gallery: Paintings before Rome', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XXV, 2004, pp. 4-35
2004

H. Chapman, T. Henry and C. Plazzotta, Raphael: From Urbino to Rome (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 20 October 2004 - 16 January 2005), London 2004
2005

J. Meyer zur Capellen, Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of His Paintings, vol. 2, The Roman Religious Paintings, ca. 1508-1520, Landshut 2005
2006

A. Coliva, Raffaello: Da Firenze a Roma (exh. cat. Museo e Galleria Borghese, 19 May - 27 August 2006), Rome 2006
2006

G. Finaldi and C. Garridos, El trazo oculto: Dibujos subyacentes en pinturas de los siglos XV y XVI, (exh. cat. Museo Nacional del Prado, 20 July - 5 November 2006), Madrid 2006
2022

Plazzotta, Carol, and Tom Henry, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, 4, Raphael, London 2022

Frame

This is a reproduction frame made in an Italian Renaissance Tuscan style in 1935 by the London-based firm G.P. Coulette. Crafted from walnut, it is partly gilded, with a glazing door skilfully incorporated into the design. The entablature and predella both feature centre rounds and have gilt fillets outlining the square panels. Across the width of the predella is an inscription in gold, detailing the inventory number, artist’s name and date (‘744 MADONNA AND CHILD BY RAPHAEL: 1483–1520’). At the top of the sight edge is a complementary inscription with the acquisition date of the painting (‘PURCHASED 1865’). The frame boasts intricately carved and partly gilt repeat patterns, including a delicate guilloche, egg-and-dart, double bead-and-reel motifs, and dentils, which contrast beautifully with the walnut wood. The two pilasters feature stopped fluting and rosettes in a plain capital.

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

Insights

What can we learn from the composition of Raphael's 'Garvagh Madonna', and how did he paint this impressive work? Find out with Matthias Wivel, our Curator of 16th-century Italian Paintings.

This is a YouTube video player. Below the video are the title and the view time.

Raphael: The Renaissance Virtuoso | National Gallery

View time: 24:04

You can't see this YouTube video because you haven't accepted marketing cookies. Please adjust your cookie preferences or watch the video on YouTube.

More works by Raphael

(Showing 6 of 13 works)

Pope Julius II

Raphael

This portrait of the careworn Pope Julius II (1443–1513) is usually dated to the one-and-a-half-year period during which he wore a beard. He grew it in 1510 as a token of mortification while recovering from a serious illness brought on by the loss of Bologna to the French, and vowed not to shave...

Not on display

Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Raphael

Catherine of Alexandria, a fourth-century princess, was converted to Christianity and in a vision underwent a mystic marriage with Christ. When she would not give up her faith, Emperor Maxentius ordered that she be bound to a spiked wheel and tortured to death. However, a thunderbolt destroyed th...

Not on display

Saint John the Baptist Preaching

Raphael

This painting is the only surviving scene from the predella (base) of Raphael’s altarpiece for the Ansidei chapel in S. Fiorenzo, Perugia. The main panel of the altarpiece, ‘The Ansidei Madonna’, is also in the National Gallery’s collection. This predella panel would have been placed beneath the...

Not on display

The Ansidei Madonna

Raphael

This is the main panel of the altarpiece Raphael painted for the Ansidei family chapel in the Servite Church of S. Fiorenzo in Perugia in 1505.The Virgin sits in majesty on a carved wooden throne with the Christ Child on her lap. She draws his attention to a passage in the book on her knee. A str...

Room 11

The Dream of a Knight

Raphael

While resting in the shade of a bay tree, the young soldier Scipio has a vision of Virtue and her adversary Pleasure. Virtue promises Scipio honour, fame and glory through victory in war. Pleasure, with fragrant flowing hair, promises a life of ease and serenity.Raphael interpreted the theme not...

Not on display

The Madonna and Child (The Mackintosh Madonna)

Raphael

The infant Christ throws his arms affectionately around his mother’s neck and smiles at us. But the Virgin Mary’s eyes are downcast, as though her thoughts are already on his future sacrifice.The painting probably dates from the early years of Raphael’s time in Rome. It is called the ‘Mackintosh...

Not on display

The Madonna of the Pinks ('La Madonna dei Garofani')

Raphael

In this painting, Raphael transforms the familiar subject of the Virgin and Child into something entirely new. The figures are no longer posed stiffly and formally as in paintings by earlier artists, but display all the tender emotions one might expect between a young mother and her child. The pa...

Not on display

The Mond Crucifixion

Raphael

One of Raphael’s earliest works, this altarpiece was commissioned by the wool merchant and banker Domenico Gavari for his burial chapel dedicated to Saint Jerome in the church of S. Domenico in Città di Castello, Umbria.Christ’s body hangs from the Cross. Two angels balance on delicate slivers of...

Room 11

The Procession to Calvary

Raphael

This is one of three scenes from the predella of Raphael’s Colonna Altarpiece painted for the convent of S. Antonio da Padua in Perugia. The Procession to Calvary was the central scene of the predella, positioned below the main panel of the altarpiece.Christ looks to us as he carries the Cross, h...

Not on display

A Female Saint

Italian, Ferrarese or Bolognese follower of Raphael

This painting may be an idealised portrait of a woman in the guise of a saint, as she has a thin gold halo above her head. She looks directly at us and presses her right hand against her breast. Her oval face, strong regular features and plaited bound hairstyle give her the appearance of a woman...

Not on display

Portrait of a Young Man

Imitator of Raphael

In the past this painting was believed to be a portrait of Raphael as the sitter slightly resembles his self portrait in The School of Athens of 1509–11 (Vatican). It is not, however, by Raphael and is probably not a portrait of him either. It was previously described as Umbrian and possibly Bolo...

Not on display

The Madonna and Child

After Raphael

This is a copy of Raphael’s Virgin and Child known as ‘The Bridgewater Madonna’. The original is on loan to the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh from the Duke of Sutherland’s collection.The copy is similar in size and in most colours and follows Raphael’s style closely, making it difficult...

Not on display

The Sistine Madonna

Jakob Schlesinger, after Raphael

Jakob Schlesinger (1792–1855) made this tracing in 1822 of the Sistine Madonna by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483–1520). Drawn in pencil, it is formed of 24 pieces of paper pasted together and mounted on a canvas the same size as the painting. Schlesinger was a painter and picture re...

Not on display

You've viewed 6 of 13 works