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Lot Essay
Sassoferrato’s moving devotional works are characterized by their stunning palette and soft, almost ethereal modeling, leaving no question as to the divine nature of their subjects. Many of his most celebrated paintings are adaptations of the works of earlier masters: some, for instance, are based on works by Renaissance painters such as Raphael, while others look to later Bolognese artists including Guido Reni, Annibale Carracci, and Francesco Albani. The scope of Sassoferrato’s influences extended beyond Italy—he is known to have produced paintings inspired by both Dürer and Joos van Cleve. By reworking these well-known compositions, Sassoferrato created some of the most effective religious imagery of the seventeenth century.
This composition is derived from Raphael's Madonna and Child, also known as the 'Mackintosh Madonna', in the National Gallery, London. The Christ Child climbs on his mother, affectionately wrapping his hand around her neck and looking out with curiosity. The Virgin, eyes modestly downcast, is dressed in a scarlet gown, blue robe, and white veil. A widely renowned and instantly recognizable composition, Sassoferrato copied it several times. The idea that some of the variation in Sassoferrato's compositions suggests a second model, has been rejected by Massimo Pulini, who asserts all the variants can be traced to Raphael's initial design (M. Pulini in Il Sassoferrato: la devota bellezza devout beauty, exhibition catalogue, Milan, 2017, p. 210). The inclusion of a version of this composition in a portrait by Sassoferrato of Cardinal Rapaccioli, now in the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, testifies to its popularity (fig. 1).
John Webb, who owned this painting in the nineteenth century, was a British art and furniture dealer who acted as agent for the British Museum and the South Kensington Museum, which would later become the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Upon her death, his daughter, Edith, bequeathed several paintings to the National Gallery in memory of her father, including Jean-Siméon Chardin's The Young Schoolmistress and The House of Cards.
This composition is derived from Raphael's Madonna and Child, also known as the 'Mackintosh Madonna', in the National Gallery, London. The Christ Child climbs on his mother, affectionately wrapping his hand around her neck and looking out with curiosity. The Virgin, eyes modestly downcast, is dressed in a scarlet gown, blue robe, and white veil. A widely renowned and instantly recognizable composition, Sassoferrato copied it several times. The idea that some of the variation in Sassoferrato's compositions suggests a second model, has been rejected by Massimo Pulini, who asserts all the variants can be traced to Raphael's initial design (M. Pulini in Il Sassoferrato: la devota bellezza devout beauty, exhibition catalogue, Milan, 2017, p. 210). The inclusion of a version of this composition in a portrait by Sassoferrato of Cardinal Rapaccioli, now in the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, testifies to its popularity (fig. 1).
John Webb, who owned this painting in the nineteenth century, was a British art and furniture dealer who acted as agent for the British Museum and the South Kensington Museum, which would later become the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Upon her death, his daughter, Edith, bequeathed several paintings to the National Gallery in memory of her father, including Jean-Siméon Chardin's The Young Schoolmistress and The House of Cards.