Madonna and Child
(Urbino 1483 - Rome 1520)
The panel is a copy of Raphael’s Madonna of the Tower (Mackintosh Madonna), which was painted around 1509 and is currently in the National Gallery in London. We do not know the name of the author or the provenance of the work, which can be dated to the first half of the 16th century, chronologically close to the original, and attests to the great popularity the latter had. In the copy, the author takes the figurative group from Raphael’s model but does not reproduce the landscape behind, instead replacing it with a neutral-coloured background.
Object details
Inventory
Location
Date
First half of 16th century
Classification
Period
Medium
Dimensions
Frame
Salvator Rosa 101 x 78,5 x 8,5 cm.
Provenance
Rome, Collection of Scipione Borghese, inventory ante 1633, no. 45 (Corradini 1998, p. 450); Inventory, 1693, room III, no. 49; Inventario Fidecommissario Borghese 1833, p. 34, no. 38. Purchased by Italian State, 1902.
Exhibitions
- 1984 Roma, Palazzo Venezia
Conservation and Diagnostic
- 1875 Unknown restorer (removal of ancient overpaintings, see Venturi 1893)
Commentary
The work, by an unknown artist, is taken from Raphael’s Madonna of the Tower (Mackintosh Madonna), which came from the collection of the Duke of Orléans and is now in the National Gallery in London.v
The subject was very popular and, as the numerous known reproductions of it show, was taken up by many artists, including Sassoferrato, a copy of which is also held in the Borghese Gallery (inv. 382).
The artist of the Borghese painting borrows from Raphael’s original in a rather free manner, keeping the figurative group of the Virgin and Child intact but eliminating the landscape behind, replacing it with a uniform grey background. The depiction of the body of Jesus, shown naked in his mother’s arms as he directs his gaze towards the observer, appears more incisive, reminiscent of examples of early 16th-century Tuscan painting, from Pontormo to Domenico Puligo. This might explain the indication on the back of the panel, ‘Daniel’, as a possible reference to Daniele da Volterra, believed by some to be the creator of the painting (Barberini 1984, pp. 60-62).
The number 426 on the lower left-hand side of the panel makes it possible to identify the work in the Borghese inventory of 1693, albeit with a curious attribution: ‘a painting on panel of about four palms with the Madonna and Child by Mantegna, no. 426 with a gilded frame’ (Della Pergola 1959, p. 124). A possible earlier reference, suggested by Maria Giulia Barberini (cit.) on the basis of the above-mentioned indication on the back of the panel, can be found in the inventory of Scipione Borghese, datable before 1633, where a ‘painting on wood panel the Madonna and Child in her arms [...] Daniel da Volterra’ appears (Corradini 1998, p. 450). The next inventory mention noted by critics (Della Pergola cit.; Barberini cit.) is that of the 1833 fideicommissary list, where the work appears with a reference to the school of Raphael, an attribution endorsed by Piancastelli (1891, p. 308).
At an unspecified date, the work was completely repainted, removed via a restoration operation carried out in 1875 (Venturi 1893, p. 174; Della Pergola cit.).
Pier Ludovico Puddu
Bibliography
- J. D. Passavant, Raphaël d’Urbin et son père Giovanni Santi, II, Paris 1860, p. 121;
- J.A. Crowe, G.B. Cavalcaselle, Raffaello, la sua vita e le sue opere, II, Firenze 1890, p. 147;
- G. Piancastelli, Catalogo dei quadri della Galleria Borghese, in Archivio Galleria Borghese, 1891, p. 308;
- A. Venturi, Il Museo e la Galleria Borghese, Roma 1893, p. 174;
- R. Longhi, Precisioni nelle Gallerie Italiane, I, La R. Galleria Borghese, Roma 1928, p. 213;
- P. Della Pergola, La Galleria Borghese. I Dipinti, II, Roma 1959, pp. 124-125, n. 175;
- K. Rozman, Slikar Franc Kavčič/Caucig in njegove risbe po slikah starih mojstrov, in “Zbornik za umetnostno zgodovino”, XI-XII, 1974-1976, p. 61;
- G. Barberini, in Raffaello nelle raccolte Borghese, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Galleria Borghese, 1984), a cura di Roma 1984, pp. 60-62;
- S. Corradini, Un antico inventario della quadreria del Cardinal Borghese, in Bernini scultore. La nascita del barocco in Casa Borghese, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Galleria Borghese, 1998), a cura di A. Coliva, S. Schütze, A. Campitelli, Roma 1998, p. 450, n. 45;
- J. Meyer Zur Capellen, Raphael. A Critical Catalogue of his Paintings, II, The Roman Religious Paintings, ca. 1508-1520, Landshut 2005, p. 81, n. 49, II.22;
- K. Herrmann Fiore, Galleria Borghese Roma scopre un tesoro. Dalla pinacoteca ai depositi un museo che non ha più segreti, San Giuliano Milanese 2006, p. 118.
