Andrea del Verrocchio
The Virgin and Child
Lot Closed
January 28, 04:19 PM GMT
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio
Florence 1435 - 1488 Venice
The Virgin and Child
tempera grassa on poplar panel
panel: 27¾ by 18⅜ in.; 70.5 by 46.6 cm.
framed: 27¼ by 23 in.; 69.2 by 58.4 cm.
His sale et al., London, Christie's, 11 February 1911, lot 133 (as "Cenini"), for £100;
Grace Curzon, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston (1879–1958);
Her sale, New York, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, 22 April 1932, lot 77 (as Cennino Cennini);
Therese K. Lownes Noble (1877–1970);
By whose Executors sold, New York, Sotheby's, 18 June 1974, lot 108 (as attributed to "Utili") to Sacerdoti;
Probably with Edmondo Sacerdoti, Milan;
Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, until 1997;
Their sale, Milan, Finarte 19 November 1997, lot 134 (as Biagio d'Antonio, probably early 1480s).
R. Bartoli, Biagio d'Antonio, Milan 1999, p. 240 (under ‘Rejected Attributions’ [‘Opere espunte’]);
N. Pons, “L’arte Fiorentina degli anni settanta del Quattrocento alla mostra di Londra,” Arte Cristiana, vol. 88, no. 799 (2000), p. 320, reproduced fig. 3 (as Sellaio in a moment of particular closeness to Biagio d'Antonio);
C. Daly, “A New Fragment of the Carmine Altarpiece and Other Works by Jacopo del Sellaio,” Commentari d’arte XX, no. 58/59 (2014), pp. 54, 58 note 12 (as Biagio d'Antonio during his partnership with Sellaio);
L.B. Kanter, Leonardo: Discoveries from Verrocchio's Studio, Early Paintings and New Attributions, New Haven 2018, p. 97, p. 101 n. 72, reproduced fig. 76, (as follower of Andrea del Verrocchio[?], c. 1480–85).
This Madonna and Child is likely to be a product of the bustling workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, undoubtedly one of the most productive and successful studios in Renaissance Florence. While primarily considered a sculptor, Verrocchio's invaluable contributions in the field of painting remain less known due to a lack of documented autograph works. It is certain, however, that there was a group of accomplished painters active under Verrocchio's close supervision, often producing painted variants of the master's designs.
The present painting has in the past been attributed to Biagio d'Antonio, a notable painter heavily influenced by Verrocchio, though this idea was rejected by Roberta Bartoli in her monograph dedicated to the artist. The design, at least in the disposition of the figures, repeats in reverse a full-length Madonna and Child Enthroned in the Alana Collection, Delaware.1 The Alana painting, which shows the Madonna seated on an elaborate marbled throne, has been associated at different stages to the Pollaiuolo workshop, the young Jacopo del Sellaio, as well as to Verrocchio himself more recently. A second version of the composition, a Madonna and Child with Adoring Angels, again full-length, is in the Yale University Art Gallery and can be considered to be by Jacopo del Sellaio.2 The present design is the only one in which the figures are shown at half-length, with a parapet and vase before them, and a landscape visible through the columns.
1 Kanter 2018, p. 94, reproduced fig. 72.
2 Kanter 2018, p. 92, reproduced fig. 71.
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