The representation of the Madonna and Christ Child was extremely popular during the Italian Renaissance. Works of art such as this were probably for private devotional use; most homes had at least one painting or sculpture with the image. These served to stimulate devotion, as they could be reflected upon on a daily basis.
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- Titles Madonna and Christ Child (Proper)
- Artist and, Donnino Domenico del Mazziere, Italy, Florence 1460 - ? / Attributed to, Workshop of Agnolo Domenico del Mazziere, Italy, Florence, 1466 - 1513 / Formerly attributed to, Giovanni Graffione, Italy, 1455 - 1527
- Medium tempera on panel
- Dimensions 30 5/8 × 22 1/4 in. (77.8 × 56.5 cm) frame: 46 3/4 × 35 × 5 3/8 in. (118.7 × 88.9 × 13.7 cm)
- Credit Line Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, 1961.106
- Work Type painting
- Classification Paintings
- On View
- Signature Unsigned
- Marks None
- Inscription Verso, encapsulated label attached to cradle slats, center, typed label: Virgin & Child in Landscape Background. / From Mann. Colln. Dolphinton, / Peebleshire. / 29485 [added in brown ink] / Cosimo Roselli [added in brown ink] Verso, down cradle slat, upper right, green/black ink: # 9422 F. Frame, verso, upper frame rail, top left, white chalk: 1083 Frame, verso, upper frame rail, top left, white chalk: G9 Frame, verso, upper frame rail, center, black stamp: 1083 Frame, verso, upper frame rail, center right, ink on sticker with red boarder: 9422 / K1083 Frame, verso, upper frame rail, center right, graphite: 9422 [circled] Frame, verso, bottom frame rail, lower left, typed label: NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART / WASHINGTON, D.C. / NO. 451 / YEAR 1939 / ARTIST [following text intentionally marked out with black crayon] / TITLE MADONNA AND CHILD Backing board, verso, over above National Gallery of Art label, black stamp with rectangular boarder: De-accessioned by the / Mar 5, 1952 [year in blue pen] / National Gallery of Art Frame, verso, bottom frame rail, lower right, white chalk: NG451 Frame, verso, bottom frame rail, center black stamp: 1083
- Provenance James Stirling Dyce, Edinburgh, until at least 1891, as Ghirlandaio [see note 1]. G. B. E. Hodges, Esq.; auctioned by Christie, Manson & Woods, London, June 9, 1894, lot 119; purchased by Buttrey [see note 2]. Sir George Donaldson (1845-1925), Brighton, Sussex [see note 3]; James G. Mann, Castlecraig, Dolphinton, Peeblesshire, Scotland by 1901 as Ghirlandaio; by descent to Henry D. Simpson, Castlecraig, Dolphinton, Peeblesshire, Scotland [see note 4]; auctioned by Mann executors at Sotheby's, London, July 3, 1929, lot 24; purchased by Leopold Davis for art dealer Sir Joseph Duveen (1869-1939), New York; purchased by Samuel H. Kress (1863-1955), New York, April 12, 1937 as Cosimo Roselli; gift to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1939, deaccessioned, 1952; returned to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation; on loan to the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, 1952; gift of the Kress Foundation to the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, 1961
1. According to bill of sale from Duveen to Kress dated April 12, 1937. See object file.
2. This may be Prof. Theodore Buttrey, Keeper of Coins at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
3. According to a letter dated September 1, 1928 and related to the Mann collection in the Duveen Brothers records, 1876-1981 at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles and the bill of sale from Duveen to Kress dated April 12, 1937. See object file.
4. According to a letter dated November 25, 1928 and related to the Mann collection in the Duveen Brothers records, 1876-1981 at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California.