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Against a gold background, a blond woman is shown from the lap up, facing us as she holds and looks down at a plump baby sitting on a gold and white pillow on her lap in this vertical painting. Both people have pale, peachy skin, and faint halos encircle their heads. The child sits with his body angled to our right, toward his mother, but he turns to look off to our left with pale green eyes. He holds his right hand, on our left, up with his thumb and first two fingers raised. He has short, light brown hair, rounded cheeks, a delicate nose and lips, and chubby legs. He wears a light blue smock edged in gold, with gold filigree at the collar. The garment is belted with a twist of fabric patterned in bands of red, black, and gold. Under the smock he wears a half-sleeved, transparent undershirt. The woman steadies the baby with her long, delicate hands. She wears a sky-blue robe edged with gold, Arabic-like script. The lining, in a black and brown floral pattern, is visible where the edges of her robe turn back over her wrists and around her neck. Belted across the chest in a twist of blue and gold fabric, her dusky-pink dress is lined at the neck with a gold band with red and blue gems, with a brooch of pearls and rock crystal at the center. Her headdress is a sheer, white cloth bordered with a gold stripe, rolled atop her head and falling to her shoulders, where it is tucked into her robe. Some areas of the gold background have worn away to show the red layer beneath.

Domenico Ghirlandaio

Madonna and Child, c. 1470/1475

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 7

Medium

tempera on panel transferred to hardboard

Dimensions

painted surface: 70.8 x 48.9 cm (27 7/8 x 19 1/4 in.)
overall size: 73 x 50.2 cm (28 3/4 x 19 3/4 in.)

framed: 115.6 x 89.2 x 7.6 cm (45 1/2 x 35 1/8 x 3 in.)

Credit Line

Samuel H. Kress Collection

Accession Number

1961.9.49

Artists / Makers

Domenico Ghirlandaio (artist) Florentine, 1449 - 1494

Image Use

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Provenance

Mrs. E.L. Scott, possibly London; (sale, Sotheby's, London, 22 April 1953, no. 32, as by Verrocchio); purchased by (Hazlitt Gallery, London); (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Florence); sold June 1954 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[1] gift 1961 to NGA.

[1] On 7 June 1954 the Kress Foundation made an offer to Contini Bonacossi for sixteen paintings, including the NGA painting which was listed as by Verrocchio. In a draft of one of the documents prepared for the Count's signature in connection with the offer this painting is described as "Madonna and Child by Verrocchio, recently purchased by me in London." The Count accepted the offer on 30 June 1954; the final payment for the purchase was ultimately made in early 1957, after the Count's death in 1955. (See copies of correspondence in NGA curatorial files and The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1340).

Associated Names

Contini Bonacossi, Alessandro, Count
Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox Ltd.
Kress Foundation, Samuel H.
Scott, E.L., Mrs.
Sotheby's, London

Exhibition History

2010: Ghirlandaio y el Renacimiento en Florencia, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, 2010, no. 47.

2019: Verrocchio: Sculptor and Painter of Renaissance Florence, Palazzo Strozzi and Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence (as Verrocchio: Master of Leonardo); National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2019-2020, Florence catalogue, no.5.5, repro; Washington catalogue, no. 29, repro.

Bibliography

1953: Zeri, Federico. "Il Maestro dell'Annunciazione Gardner." Bollettino d'Arte 38, no. 2 (1953): 139 n. 15.

1956: Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida and Fern Rusk Shapley. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1956: 88, no. 32, repro.

1959: Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 66, repro.

1961: Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 41-43, repro.

1962: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 16, color repro.

1963: Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Florentine School, 2 vols. London, 1963: 1:77. 2:pl. 955.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 300, repro.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 57.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:44, color repro.

1966: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 124-125, fig. 344.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 50, repro.

1969: Rosenauer, Artur. “Zum Stil der frühen Werke Domenico Ghirlandajos.” Wiener Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte 22 (1969): 67-68.

1972: Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 83, 325, 647.

1974: Grossman, Sheldon. “An early drawing by Fra Bartolomeo.” Studies in the History of Art 6 (1974): 9 n. 8.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 152, repro.

1978: Brigstocke, Hugh. Italian and Spanish Paintings in the National Gallery of Scotland. Edinburgh, 1978: 189, 192 n. 30.

1978: Oberhuber, Konrad. “Le problème des premières oeuvres de Verrocchio.” Revue de l’art 42 (1978): 71, fig. 13.

1979: Grossman, Sheldon. “Ghirlandaio’s ‘Madonna and Child’ in Frankfurt and Leonardo’s Beginnings as a Painter.” Städel-Jahrbuch 7 (1979): 102, 110-111, 122 n. 10, fig. 8.

1979: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:205; 2:pl. 141.

1980: Cadogan, Jean. Maestri toscani del Quattrocento: Lorenzo Monaco, Ghiberti, Paolo Uccello, Filippo Lippi, Pesellino, Andrea del Castagno, Ghirlandaio, Bartolomeo di Giovanni, Benozzo Gozzoli, etc.. Florence, 1980: 31-32.

1981: Brigstocke, Hugh. “Verrocchio’s Ruskin Madonna.” In Thos. Agnew and Sons Ltd. And Michael Jaffé, eds. A Dealer’s Record: Agnew’s 1967-81. London, 1981: 27-28.

1983: Angelini, Alessandro. “Domenico Ghirlandaio 1470-1480.” In Domenico Ghirlandaio: restauro e storia di una dipinto. Exh. cat. Arciconfraternità di Misericordia, Figline Valdarno, 1983: 12, 15, 20 n. 9, repro.

1983: Cadogan, Jean. “Linen drapery studies by Verrocchio, Leonardo and Ghirlandaio.” Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 46 (1983): 34, 36, fig. 6.

1983: Cadogan, Jean. “Reconsidering some aspects of Ghirlandaio’s drawings.” The Art Bulletin 65 (1983): 281-282.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 104, no. 73, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 174, repro.

1986: Frulli, Cristina. "Domenico Ghirlandaio/Domenico di Tommaso Bigordi." In Federico Zeri, ed. La pittura in Italia: il Quattrocento. 2 vols. Milan, 1986: 2:635.

1988: Kecks, Ronald G. Madonna und Kind. Das häusliche Andachtsbild im Florenz des 15. Jahrhunderts. Berlin, 1988: 112-113, 127, fig. 126.

1988: Wheeler, Marion, ed. His Face--Images of Christ in Art: Selections from the King James Version of the Bible. New York, 1988: no. 14, repro.

1992: Padoa Rizzo, Anna. “Il tironcinio dell’artista: la bottega come luogo di formazione.” In Mina Gregori, Antonio Paolucci and Cristina Acidini Luchinat, eds. Maestri e botteghe: pittura a Firenze alla fine del Quattrocento. Exh. cat. Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 1992: 57.

1993: Brigstocke, Hugh. Italian and Spanish Paintings in the National Gallery of Scotland. 3rd ed. Edinburgh, 1993: 202, 204 n. 30, 204 n. 35, 204 n. 36, fig. 68.

1993: Gagliardi, Jacques. La conquête de la peinture: L’Europe des ateliers du XIIIe au XVe siècle. Paris, 1993: 635.

1994: Fahy, Everett. “Two Suggestions for Verrocchio.” In Studi di storia dell’arte in onore di Mina Gregori. Milan, 1994: 51.

1998: Brown, David Alan. Leonardo da Vinci: Origins of a Genius. New Haven and London, 1998: 40, fig. 31.

1999: Freedman, Luba. “The Madonna’s Brooch as an Allusion to Verrocchio’s Name.” Studies in Art History 4 (1999): 148, fig. 5, as Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio (Domenico Ghirlandaio?).

2000: Cadogan, Jean. Domenico Ghirlandaio: Artist and Artisan. New Haven and London, 2000: 57-60, 246, cat. 22, repro.

2003: Boskovits, Miklós, David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2003: 300-303, color repro.

2004: Hiller von Gaertringen, Rudolf. Italienische Gemälde im Städel 1300-1550: Toskana und Umbrien. Kataloge der Gemälde im Städelschen Kunstinstitut Frankfurt am Main. Mainz, 2004: 304, fig. 211.

2004: Matteoli, Anna. "Un'aggiunta al catalogo di Domenico Ghirlandaio." Arte Cristiana 92, no. 821 (March-April 2004): 106, fig. 3.

2008: Meijer, Bert W., ed. Firenze e gli antichi Paesi Bassi, 1430-1530, dialoghi tra artisti: da Jan van Eyck a Ghirlandaio, da Memling a Raffaello…. Exh. cat., Galleria Palatina di Palazzo Pitti, Florence 2008: 210.

2010: Bernacchioni, Annamaria, ed. Ghirlandaio: Una famiglia di pittori del Rinascimento tra Firenze e Scandicci. Exh. cat. Castello dell'Acciaiolo, Scandicci, 2010: 90.

2014: Chiodo, Sonia, and Serena Padovani, eds. The Alana Collection, Newark, Delaware, USA. Vol. III: Italian Paintings from the 14th to 16th Century. Florence, 2014: 84.

2017: Baldini, Nicoletta. “‘Tempi felici’: La storia della Famiglia del Ghirlandaio nelle carte conservate presso il fondo dell’Arciconfraternita del Gonfalone dell’Archivio Segreto Vaticano.” In Lisa Venturini, ed. Ghirlandaria: Un manoscritto di ricordi della Famiglia del Ghirlandaio. Florence, 2017: 72.

2020: Crack, Peter. "The dying contrabandista by John Phillip (1817-1867): The fictional Spanish afterlife of a Madonna and Child by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494)." The British Art Journal 20, no. 1 (Spring 2020): 7-14, fig. 1.

2020: De Marchi, Andrea. “Il 'Maestro dall’occhio vispo': curiosità insaziabile, generosità e passione nel metodo di un conoscitore anomalo.” In Everett Fahy. Studi sulla pittura toscana del Rinascimento. Studies in Tuscan Renaissance Painting. Scritti scelti. Ed. Andrea de Marchi and Elisabetta Sambo. Bologna, 2020: XXX.

2020: Fahy, Everett. “The Ruskin Madonna.” In Everett Fahy, Studi sulla pittura toscana del Rinascimento. Studies in Tuscan Renaissance Painting. Scritti scelti. Ed. Andrea De Marchi and Elisabetta Sambo. Bologna, 2020: 213, 214, figs. 152, 158.

2020: Pons, Nicoletta. “Un panneau inédit de Domenico Ghirlandaio peint pour Pise.” Revue des Musées de France. Revue du Louvre, no. 1 (2020): 44.

2023: Bacchi, Andrea, and Luca Mattedi. Italian Paintings: Federico Zeri e il Metropolitan Museum (1948-1988). Bologna, 2023: 101, 102.

2023: De Marchi, Andrea, and Cecilia Martelli. Una Madonna verrocchiescha per la giovinezza di Domenico Ghirlandaio. Florence, 2023: 45 n. 30, 51, 60 n. 4, 61 n. 16, pl. X, fig. 22, 27.

2023: Pierini, Marco, and Veruska Picchiarelli, eds. Il meglio maestro d'Italia: Perugino nel suo tempo. Exh. cat. Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia, 2023: 193 n. 26.