Madonna and Child
Filippo Lippi·c. 1470
Historical Context
Fra Filippo Lippi's Madonna and Child compositions transformed devotional painting in Florence by introducing a new domesticity and humanity—his Madonnas inhabit real spaces and display recognizable emotion rather than the hieratic stillness of earlier tradition. Working from the 1430s onward, Lippi collaborated with Pesellino on compositions that circulated widely through copies and variants, satisfying the Florentine bourgeoisie's appetite for intimate devotional panels. His distinctive figure types—round-faced Madonnas with veiled hair, chubby Christ children—were widely imitated by followers including Botticelli, who apprenticed in his workshop. The persistence of follower versions into the 1470s reflects the sustained commercial demand for Lippi's devotional formula even as Florentine taste evolved toward greater classical rigor.
Technical Analysis
The tempera on poplar panel demonstrates the smooth, delicate modeling characteristic of both Lippi and Pesellino. The Madonna's gentle expression and the Child's lively pose follow established compositional formulas from the Lippi workshop.
Provenance
Cathedral of Siena, in the early 1800s.[1] Private collection, Tuscany; Alexander Barker [c. 1797-1873], London and Florence;[2] Paul Pavlovich Demidoff [1839-1885], prince of San Donato, near Florence; (his sale, Florence, 15 March-10 April 1880, no. 368, as _La Vierge aux Roses_ by Parri Spinelli). L. Ganetiez, Paris; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 13 July 1889, no. 65, as _The Madonna with the Infant Savior, with roses in the background_ by Parri Spinelli); (Ellis).[3] (Leo Nardus [1868-1955], Suresnes, France, and New York); sold 1898 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[4] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA. [1] René Ménard, "Spinello Aretino," _Gazette des Beaux-Arts_ 9 (February 1874): 118, 119, includes an engraving identical in every detail to the Gallery's painting and writes that the painting "Provient de la cathédral de Sienne, où elle était encore sous la Restauration" ("comes from the cathedral of Sienna, where it was still under the Restoration"). When the panel entered or left the cathedral, or under what circumstances, is unknown. It is unlikely that the cathedral would have been its original location, given the painting's private devotional function. [2] According to the Demidoff sale catalogue, where the 1874 engraving reappears, Barker acquired the painting from one of the oldest patrician families in Tuscany. [3] The name of the consigner to the 1889 sale was kindly provided by Jeremy Rex-Parkes, Christie's Archives, London. The buyer is given in a newspaper article added to the Knoedler microfiche copy of the 1889 sale catalogue. [4] Early Widener collection records (in NGA curatorial files) indicate that the painting was acquired from Nardus in 1898 but do not mention prior provenance. An article in an April-June 1902 readers' forum in _Les Arts_ invited discussion of the quality and attribution of a painting in an unnamed collection visually indistinguishable from NGA 1942.9.50. One Paris respondent noted that the Widener [NGA] painting was identical to the one reproduced, but it is reasonable to assume that the painting reproduced in _Les Arts_ was actually the Widener painting. Berenson then connected the Barker painting to the one in the Widener collection in his 1916 Widener collection catalogue.
