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Lot Essay
This graceful tondo shows the Virgin adoring the Christ Child in the Tuscan countryside before a ruined stone structure. A paragon of Renaissance beauty, the Virgin wears a red gown with a blue cloak lined with green and a diaphanous veil, which rests over her shoulders. The nude Christ Child gazes up at his mother, reclining on her sacred garments. Depicting a subject that was popular in Botticelli’s native Florence, this panel was likely intended as an object of personal devotion, and perhaps was originally installed within a private family chapel. The young Saint John the Baptist – the patron saint of Florence – stands next to the Virgin with his right hand over his heart, thereby honoring and pledging devotion to his newborn cousin. John elegantly gestures to the Christ Child with his left hand, which also holds a banderol inscribed with the word “Agnus”. In this way, Botticelli both signals Christ’s divinity and his future sacrifice, recalling the Baptist’s declaration in the wilderness: “Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccatum mundi" ["Look, this is the Lamb of God; look, this is he who takes away the sin of the world”] (John 1:29).
Of the several versions that exist of this composition, the best two examples, in addition to the present work, are the tondos in the National Gallery, London and Amgueddfa Cymru – the National Museum Wales, Cardiff. All three versions exhibit differences, particularly in their landscapes. In both the London and Wales versions, the Christ Child rests on sheaves of wheat which do not properly support his head, leaving those compositions somewhat unresolved. Here, the artist more satisfactorily creates a makeshift cradle out of a pile of carved stone fragments and the Virgin’s robes. In addition, whereas in the other two somewhat smaller paintings, the Virgin’s hair is nearly entirely covered by her shawl, here her golden locks spill over her shoulders, with only a single braid at the top of her head covered by a transparent veil to preserve her modesty. Lionello Venturi considered this to be an autograph work, executed between 1480 and 1490, writing that “the face of the Madonna is one of the most glamorous achievements of Botticelli” (written communication, 26 October 1949), and related the ruined masonry in the background to Leonardo da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks. Wilhelm R. Valentiner dated it to 1485-1490 (written communication, 2 April 1951).
Of the several versions that exist of this composition, the best two examples, in addition to the present work, are the tondos in the National Gallery, London and Amgueddfa Cymru – the National Museum Wales, Cardiff. All three versions exhibit differences, particularly in their landscapes. In both the London and Wales versions, the Christ Child rests on sheaves of wheat which do not properly support his head, leaving those compositions somewhat unresolved. Here, the artist more satisfactorily creates a makeshift cradle out of a pile of carved stone fragments and the Virgin’s robes. In addition, whereas in the other two somewhat smaller paintings, the Virgin’s hair is nearly entirely covered by her shawl, here her golden locks spill over her shoulders, with only a single braid at the top of her head covered by a transparent veil to preserve her modesty. Lionello Venturi considered this to be an autograph work, executed between 1480 and 1490, writing that “the face of the Madonna is one of the most glamorous achievements of Botticelli” (written communication, 26 October 1949), and related the ruined masonry in the background to Leonardo da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks. Wilhelm R. Valentiner dated it to 1485-1490 (written communication, 2 April 1951).