Madonna and Child
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Authors
Unknown artists (maybe after Benedetto da Maiano)
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Virgin and Child , Virgin , Christ , Conservation , Enthroned Virgin and Child , Madonna and Child
Alternative Title
Abstract
This stucco relief (c. 1500 or c. 1850) at the Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia in Rome was first attributed to Benedetto da Maiano (1442–1497) in 1954 by Antonino Santangelo, based on its similarity to a rectangular marble relief of the same subject by the sculptor, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). In both reliefs, the seated Christ Child plays with his mother's veil, and their hands meet as the Virgin lovingly gazes down at her son.
While the marble relief’s dating and attribution are certain, the same cannot be said for the polychrome stucco at the Palazzo Venezia. There are three other similar circular reliefs—one in Vienna, one in Budapest, and a third in Florence at the Museo dello Spedale degli Innocenti, featuring bright polychromy and an almost identical circumference of 53.5 cm. The Italian versions have nearly identical circumferences, suggesting they may have been produced from the same model, possibly based on the MET marble. This points to the likelihood of serial production.
Conservation efforts in 2010 revealed that the white polychromy on the Palazzo Venezia relief was achieved by adding minimal colour to white gesso rather than using white paint, which is unusual. Due to this and other factors, the museum has published this piece as a nineteenth-century replica, though dating serial works with certainty remains challenging. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
Description
National Museum of the Palazzo di Venezia; de Clemente Collection
Citation
Cristiano Giometti, Museo nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia : sculture in terracotta (Roma: Gangemi, 2011), 130.