PASCAL ADOLPHE JEAN DAGNAN-BOUVERET | MADONNA (STUDY FOR CONSOLATRIX AFFLICTORUM)

Private Collection, New York

Thence by descent 

The present lot is a study for Pascale Adolphe Jean Dagnan-Bouveret’s major religious composition, Consolatrix Afflictorum (1899, Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittsburgh). Consolatrix Afflictorum depicts a seated Madonna and infant Christ, flanked by angels and woodland creatures, with a crouching man at their feet, who represents human suffering. Both the Madonna in this study and the finished composition clearly demonstrate Dagnan-Bouveret’s study of the work of Leonardo da Vinci. Consolatrix Afflictorum has remained in the Frick Collection in Pittsburgh, having formerly hung in the dining room of Henry Clay Frick’s mansion.

We would like to thank Dr. Gabriel P. Weisberg, Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, for kindly confirming the authenticity of this lot.