|
|
| Artist | Attributed to school of Botticelli, Sandro (Italian painter and draftsman, born 1444 or 1445, died 1510) |
| Previous attributions | Previously attributed to Sellaio, Jacopo del (Italian painter, ca. 1441-1493) |
| Title | The Madonna Adoring the Infant Christ |
| Date earliest | about 1505 |
| Date latest | about 1505 |
| Material | tempera (egg tempera); gold on panel (hardwood {poplar}) |
| Measurements | 92.7 x 54.2 cm |
| Description | Although it is no longer considered to be the product of Botticelli's studio, this panel depicting the Virgin praying over the child was painted by a contemporary follower of the famous Florentine, and the figures were modelled on works by him. Infra-red and X-ray examination has revealed that the artist made changes as he worked, for instance moving the infant's left foot and shifting the line of the stable wall to lend more depth to the composition. Two coats of arms on the integral frame remain unidentified. Analysis of the left shield indicated that it was a later addition. |
| Subject | religion (Madonna, Virgin, Christ, Nativity); animal (ox, ass) |
| Collection | Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery |
| Current accession number | K1659 |
| Acquisition details | Bequeathed by F. P. M. Schiller 1946. |
| Principal publications | Catalogue of Oil Paintings, City Art Gallery, Bristol, Bristol, 1970, p. 136, no. K1659, ill., as by Studio of Botticelli. |
| Notes | Printed label on reverse: '[...] Agnews, London'; label on reverse, inscribed in ink: '860' (?); old label on reverse. The figure group resembles that in the Mystic Nativity (1500, National Gallery), and a tondo attributed to Botticelli and assistants at the North Carolina Museum of Art (about 1510, Kress Collection); the infant appears in an identical pose in an autograph tondo in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (1480-90, Kress Collection); the Virgin's pose replicates that in The Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child (1490, National Gallery of Scotland). Attempts have been made to differentiate contemporary followers of Botticelli, and the Bristol painting has been associated with several of these names. Everett Fahy, Metropolitan Museum of Art, identified the Bristol painting with the 'Master of the Gothic Buildings', whose hand has also been perceived in The Madonna Adoring the Child (Lehman Collection), correspondence, 1995. |
| Rights status | Bristol's Museums, Galleries & Archives |
| Author | Dr Susan Steer |
