Madonna and Child

c. 1470/1480

Shown from the knees up, a woman holds a baby in her lap in front of a clear blue sky in this vertical painting. The woman and baby both have smooth, pale skin with rosy cheeks and flat, disk-like halos at the backs of their heads. The woman’s body is angled to our left, and she looks down and smiles faintly at the baby she holds on her lap. Her blond hair is mostly covered by a gathered and ruffled white headdress. Her forest-green robe is lined with topaz blue, and it falls over her shoulders and across her lap over a ruby-red, long-sleeved dress. The white garment beneath the dress is visible along an open seam down the arm we can see, and the front of the dress is pleated vertically from the high waist. The woman supports the baby’s back with one hand and one of his feet with her other. He has curly blond hair, round cheeks, and delicate features. He reaches for the woman with both chubby hands. A slate-blue cloth drapes over his shoulders and is tied with twisted red fabric. A gray band across the bottom of the panel suggests they sit on the far side of a stone ledge. A ridge of trees along a hill in the deep distance is visible along the left edge of the composition, and the sky above deepens from watery blue along the horizon to azure blue across the top. The surface of the painting is cracked in some areas, especially in the sky.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    tempera on poplar panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 78.1 x 53.6 cm (30 3/4 x 21 1/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1943.4.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Baron Arthur de Schickler [1828-1919], Paris, and Martinvast, Normandy (near Cherbourg), by 1896;[1] by inheritance to his daughter, Marguerite, Comtesse Hubert de Pourtalès [1870-1956], Paris, and Martinvast, Normandy; sold April 1919 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York) in part-share agreement with (Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York) and (Arnold Seligmann & Co., Paris); full ownership acquired 1922 by (Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York);[2] Clarence H. Mackay [1874-1938], Roslyn, New York, by 1924; probably acquired from Mackay by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); sold 1939 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1943 to NGA.
[1] Bernard Berenson, The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, New York and London, 1896: 187.
[2] The Baron's daughter, who married Comte Hubert de Pourtalès in 1890, was her father's sole heiress. Edward Fowles (Memories of Duveen Brothers, London, 1976: 102-103, 134) discusses the original purchase agreement with Wildenstein and Seligmann for some of the works in the Schickler collection, and the subsequent agreement in 1922 that divided the works among the three dealers. The record for the painting in the "X Book" confirms the 1919 purchase and the fact that it was "taken over by W/Stein" (copy in NGA curatorial files; X Book, Reel 422, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles).
[3] See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1333.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1924

  • Loan Exhibition of Early Italian Paintings in the Possession of Notable American Collectors, Duveen Brothers, New York, 1924, no. 18, as Virgin and Child by Andrea del Verrocchio (no. 11 in illustrated 1926 version of catalogue).

Bibliography

1896

  • Berenson, Bernard. The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance: with an index to their works. New York, 1896: 187, as designed and superintended by Andrea del Verrocchio.

1907

  • Dussler, Leopold. “Verrocchio.” In Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, eds. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 34(1940):295.

1909

  • Berenson, Bernard. The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, 3rd ed. London, 1909: 187, as designed and superintended by Andrea del Verrocchio.

1923

  • Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 11(1929):528, fig. 327, as by Andrea del Verrocchio.

1924

  • Offner, Richard. "A Remarkable Exhibition of Italian Paintings." The Arts 5 (1924): 248, repro.

1925

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. “The Clarence H. Mackay Collection.” International Studio 81, no. 339 (August 1925): 338, 341-342, as by Andrea del Verrocchio.

1926

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. The Clarence H. Mackay Collection. New York, 1926: 1, 3, no. 3, repro., as by Andrea del Verrocchio.

1929

  • Cortissoz, Royal. "The Clarence H. Mackay Collection." International Studio 94 (1929): 33-34, as by Andrea del Verrocchio.

1931

  • Kunze, Irene, ed. Beschreibendes Verzeichnis der Gemälde im Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, 9th ed. Berlin, 1931: 509-510.

1932

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932: 595.

1933

  • Berenson, Bernard. “Verrocchio and Leonardo, Leonardo and Credi-II.” Bollettino d’arte 27, no. 6 (December 1933): 202, 213 n. 2.

1935

  • Bertini, Aldo. “L’Arte del Verrocchio.” L’Arte 38, no. 6 (November 1935): 466-467 n. 1.

  • Bottari, Stefano. “Verrocchio, Leonardo e Donatello.” La Cultura 14, no. 4 (April 1935): 67 n. 2.

1936

  • Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936: 512.

1938

  • Berenson, Bernard. The Drawings of the Florentine Painters. 3 vols. Chicago, 1938: 1:53.

1939

  • “Mackay Treasure Bought by Kress.” New York Times (24 November 1939): 35 cols. A, B, repro., as by Andrea del Verrocchio.

1941

  • Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 71, repro., as by Andrea del Verrocchio.

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 210-211, no. 502, as by Andrea del Verrocchio.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 250, repro. 205, as by Andrea del Verrocchio.

  • Shoolman, Regina, and Charles E. Slatkin. Enjoyment of Art in America: A Survey of the Permanent Collections of Paintings, Sculpture, Ceramics & Decorative Arts in American and Canadian Museums: Being an Introduction to the Masterpieces of Art from Prehistoric to Modern Times. Philadelphia and New York, 1942: 291, pl. 282, as by Andrea del Verrocchio.

1944

  • Frankfurter, Alfred M. The Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1944: 31, repro., as by Andrea del Verrochio.

1945

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 53, repro., as by Andrea del Verrocchio.

1949

  • Ragghianti, Carlo L. “La Collezione S. H. Kress nella National Gallery of Art.” Critica d’Arte 8, no. 1 (May 1949): 81-82, as by Botticelli.

1953

  • Zeri, Federico. "Il Maestro dell'Annunciazione Gardner." Bollettino d'Arte 38, no. 2 (1953): 135.

1959

  • Passavant, Günter. Andrea Verrocchio als Maler. Dusseldorf, 1959: 97-98, 108, repro.

1960

  • Martini, Alberto. “Ipotesi leonardesca per la ‘Madonna’ Ruskin.” Arte Figurativa 8 (1960): 39 n. 6.

1961

  • Berenson, Bernard. I disegni dei pittori fiorentini, 3 vols. Milan, 1961: 1:90.

1963

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Florentine School. 2 vols. London, 1963: 1:212.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 136.

1966

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 118, fig. 322.

  • Gemaldegalerie. Verzeichnis der ausgestellten Gemälde des 13. bis 18. Jahrhunderts im Museum Dahlem. Berlin, 1966: 126.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 123, repro.

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:24. 2:pl.729.

1969

  • Passavant, Günter. Verrocchio. Sculptures, Paintings and Drawings. London, 1969: 45, 187, fig. 132

1971

  • Seymour, Charles. The Sculpture of Verrocchio. Greenwich, CT, 1971: 27, 171-172.

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 210, 646, 664.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 366, repro.

1976

  • Fowles, Edward. Memories of Duveen Brothers. London, 1976: 134, as by Andrea del Verrocchio.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:534-535; 2:pl. 370, as Style of Andrea del Verrocchio.

  • Secrest, Meryle. Being Bernard Berenson. New York, 1979: 244, 261.

1980

  • Ragghianti, Carlo L. “Galleria di Washington.” Critica d’Arte 45, nos. 154-156 (1980): 219, as by Botticelli.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 424, repro.

1987

  • Samuels, Ernest, and Jayne Newcomer. Bernard Berenson: The Making of a Legend. Cambridge, MA, and London, 1987: 202.

  • Hadley, Rollin van N., ed. _Berenson, Bernard, and Isabella Stewart Gardner. The Letters of Bernard Berenson and Isabella Stewart Gardner 1887-1924. Boston, 1987: 649

1991

  • Adorno, Piero. Il Verrocchio. Nuove proposte nella civilità artistica del tempo di Lorenzo il Magnifico. Florence, 1991: 285 n. 9.

2003

  • Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 671-674, color repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20173986

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