Madonna and Child
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Christianity Ancient painting Italy Ancient Italy 18th century painting Flemish art
Chronology : 15th century 1460-1479 1480-1499 16th century 1500-1519 1520-1529 1540-1569 1730-1739
See also : Christianity Ancient painting Italy Ancient Italy 18th century painting Flemish art
Chronology : 15th century 1460-1479 1480-1499 16th century 1500-1519 1520-1529 1540-1569 1730-1739
early 1470s triptych by van der Goes
2017 SOLD for $ 9M by Christie's
On April 27, 2017, Christie's sold for $ 9M from a lower estimate of $ 3M a panel 111 x 125 cm composed as a triptych in Renaissance style, lot 8. At first glance the piece is shocking : it is an oil painting with the exception of the drawings of the Virgin and Child in the central part and of one of the two characters of saints in the left wing.
The great collector Horace Walpole had acquired it for 80 guineas in 1752 in an auction, as a scene of the marriage of Henry VII with Elizabeth of York in 1486. A difference in technique between the characters and the architectural elements suggests that the composition is hybrid but Walpole is very proud to possess this painting considered as typically Tudor. The provenance is known : it had belonged to William Sykes half a century earlier.
It is exhibited in 1890. An acute observer tells in the Gazette des Beaux Arts that he perceives a classic Virgin and Child through the central part which is a church interior without figures.
The work was acquired in 1977 by the art dealer Edward Speelman. Convinced that only the architectural elements and three of the four saints were contemporaries of the Flemish Renaissance, he entrusted the restoration to the specialist David Bull of the Norton Simon Museum.
In a patient work that spans almost ten years, Bull removes with his knife the 18th century paintings, certainly made by or for Sykes who had a reputation as a faker and knew how to transform works when it pleased his clients. Bull's work brings to light a superb drawing of the Virgin and Child in the central part, supersedes Elizabeth of York with an ill-preserved drawing of St John the Baptist and restitutes to the false Tudor the attributes of St. Louis.
The expertise continued. Radiographic inspection and infrared reflectography demonstrate that the quality of the under-drawing is homogeneous throughout the surface. All the composite elements resulting from the painstaking work of Bull come from a Renaissance work. The beauty of drawing, painting and colors indicates that this panel is the autograph work of a master.
The comparison of expressive details, such as the face of the Virgin or the study of feet, with works indisputably attributed to Hugo van der Goes is convincing and a dating in the early 1470s is consistent with the dendrochronology of the panel. Hugo was a perfectionist until he fell into madness. He worked in Ghent where he admired the polyptych painted half a century earlier by the van Eyck brothers for the altar of St. Bavon's cathedral.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The great collector Horace Walpole had acquired it for 80 guineas in 1752 in an auction, as a scene of the marriage of Henry VII with Elizabeth of York in 1486. A difference in technique between the characters and the architectural elements suggests that the composition is hybrid but Walpole is very proud to possess this painting considered as typically Tudor. The provenance is known : it had belonged to William Sykes half a century earlier.
It is exhibited in 1890. An acute observer tells in the Gazette des Beaux Arts that he perceives a classic Virgin and Child through the central part which is a church interior without figures.
The work was acquired in 1977 by the art dealer Edward Speelman. Convinced that only the architectural elements and three of the four saints were contemporaries of the Flemish Renaissance, he entrusted the restoration to the specialist David Bull of the Norton Simon Museum.
In a patient work that spans almost ten years, Bull removes with his knife the 18th century paintings, certainly made by or for Sykes who had a reputation as a faker and knew how to transform works when it pleased his clients. Bull's work brings to light a superb drawing of the Virgin and Child in the central part, supersedes Elizabeth of York with an ill-preserved drawing of St John the Baptist and restitutes to the false Tudor the attributes of St. Louis.
The expertise continued. Radiographic inspection and infrared reflectography demonstrate that the quality of the under-drawing is homogeneous throughout the surface. All the composite elements resulting from the painstaking work of Bull come from a Renaissance work. The beauty of drawing, painting and colors indicates that this panel is the autograph work of a master.
The comparison of expressive details, such as the face of the Virgin or the study of feet, with works indisputably attributed to Hugo van der Goes is convincing and a dating in the early 1470s is consistent with the dendrochronology of the panel. Hugo was a perfectionist until he fell into madness. He worked in Ghent where he admired the polyptych painted half a century earlier by the van Eyck brothers for the altar of St. Bavon's cathedral.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
#Masterpiece : un tableau rare de Hugo Van der Goes fait partie de la vente Old Master Paintings chez @ChristiesInc à New-York le 27 avril pic.twitter.com/tOVgTLUZgW
— Christie's Paris (@christiesparis) March 13, 2017
BOTTICELLI
1
1470 Virgin and Child Enthroned by Botticelli
2024 SOLD for £ 10M by Sotheby's
An exquisite enthroned Virgin with the Child on her lap was used by Berenson to reimagine the Sant'Ambrogio altarpiece, painted by Botticelli ca 1470, where the heads of mother and child had been overpainted in the style of Perugino.
That altarpiece, a tempera on panel 170 x 194 cm, features the Mother and Child surrounded by six saints probably modeled from the Medici family. The Virgin and Child enthroned, a lavish tempera and mixed media with gilding on top-arched panel 83 x 45 cm, had probably been prepared as a simplified replica for private devotion.
The replica recently resurfaced. It is now reassessed as autograph through infrared and X Ray inspection revealing the preparatory drawing. At that time Botticelli in his mid 20s sparesly used assistants.
It was sold for £ 10M from a lower estimate of £ 2M by Sotheby's on December 4, 2024, lot 3.
The face lines of the Madonna, her bent head and her hair dressing have been reused ten years later by the master in his Primavera. Her elongated torso is in the signature style of Botticelli.
That altarpiece, a tempera on panel 170 x 194 cm, features the Mother and Child surrounded by six saints probably modeled from the Medici family. The Virgin and Child enthroned, a lavish tempera and mixed media with gilding on top-arched panel 83 x 45 cm, had probably been prepared as a simplified replica for private devotion.
The replica recently resurfaced. It is now reassessed as autograph through infrared and X Ray inspection revealing the preparatory drawing. At that time Botticelli in his mid 20s sparesly used assistants.
It was sold for £ 10M from a lower estimate of £ 2M by Sotheby's on December 4, 2024, lot 3.
The face lines of the Madonna, her bent head and her hair dressing have been reused ten years later by the master in his Primavera. Her elongated torso is in the signature style of Botticelli.
2
for reference
1470 Sant'Ambrogio Altarpiece
Uffizi
See above.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
3
masterpiece
1481 Madonna of the Magnificat
Uffizi
The Madonna of the Magnificat is a 118 cm tondo panel painted in tempera ca 1481 by Botticelli and kept at the Galleria degli Uffizi. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Tondi were a fashion of the time for a private devotion and contemplation above eye level. Botticelli managed to have the lines modified to match a perfect view in that position.
The Madonna and Child are surrounded by five angels, two of them holding a crown over Mary's head. The Child raises his head to look at the crown and puts his hand on an illuminated book. The text of the book is identified as two canticles from the Gospel of Luke.
The Madonna holds a quill to write the left page which is the opening of the Magnificat also referred as the Song of Mary. The left hands of Mother and Child join to hold a pomegranate, the heart shaped symbol of the Passion. That co-ordinated movement of the two hands of the two leading characters is beautiful.
Tondi were a fashion of the time for a private devotion and contemplation above eye level. Botticelli managed to have the lines modified to match a perfect view in that position.
The Madonna and Child are surrounded by five angels, two of them holding a crown over Mary's head. The Child raises his head to look at the crown and puts his hand on an illuminated book. The text of the book is identified as two canticles from the Gospel of Luke.
The Madonna holds a quill to write the left page which is the opening of the Magnificat also referred as the Song of Mary. The left hands of Mother and Child join to hold a pomegranate, the heart shaped symbol of the Passion. That co-ordinated movement of the two hands of the two leading characters is beautiful.
4
later 1480s Madonna of the Magnificat, replica
2022 SOLD for $ 48M by Christie's
On November 9, 2022, Christie's sold for $ 48M a replica of the Madonna of the Magnificat, lot 25.
This tempera, oil and gold on a 63 cm tondo panel is largely autograph as evidenced by underdrawings and pentimenti revealed by infrared and x-ray inspection. The style of the lines argues for a date in the later 1480s.
The composition is simplified to match with the smaller format. The two angels and the crown have been removed, making more mystical the raised gaze of the Child. The three remaining angels are now winged.
This tempera, oil and gold on a 63 cm tondo panel is largely autograph as evidenced by underdrawings and pentimenti revealed by infrared and x-ray inspection. The style of the lines argues for a date in the later 1480s.
The composition is simplified to match with the smaller format. The two angels and the crown have been removed, making more mystical the raised gaze of the Child. The three remaining angels are now winged.
A selection of works from the collection of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen—including a work by Cézanne with an estimate in excess of $120m—are on show at @ChristiesInc London this weekend prior to their sale in New York next month. https://t.co/jcI3Jaz2n9
— The Art Newspaper (@TheArtNewspaper) October 15, 2022
5
1493-1495 with the young St. John
2013 SOLD for $ 10.5M by Christie's
Sandro Botticelli is an empathetic artist. His art will never be outdated. Like Praxiteles and Picasso, he was able to take as a model the most beautiful woman in the world. His passion for his city, Florence, is the thread of his life.
On January 30, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 10.5M from a lower estimate of $ 5M a tempera on panel of a Madonna and Child with the young St. John. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The scene is by evidence located in Florence, and is not a Biblical story. The presence of John is only meaning that he is the patron saint of Florence. The three characters are graceful and communicate together with ardor. The faces are beautiful.
This work is dated around 1493-1495, the period of transition between the principate of Lorenzo de' Medici and the theocracy of Savonarola. The legend that he had himself brought his secular works in the Bonfire of the Vanities is not confirmed by Vasari, but it seems certain that his career as an artist became difficult afterwards.
On January 30, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 10.5M from a lower estimate of $ 5M a tempera on panel of a Madonna and Child with the young St. John. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The scene is by evidence located in Florence, and is not a Biblical story. The presence of John is only meaning that he is the patron saint of Florence. The three characters are graceful and communicate together with ardor. The faces are beautiful.
This work is dated around 1493-1495, the period of transition between the principate of Lorenzo de' Medici and the theocracy of Savonarola. The legend that he had himself brought his secular works in the Bonfire of the Vanities is not confirmed by Vasari, but it seems certain that his career as an artist became difficult afterwards.
mid 1490s Virgin and Child by Fra Bartolommeo
2013 SOLD for $ 13M by Christie's
The relationship between art and Christianity were an intense concern in Florence at the end of the glorious principate of Lorenzo de' Medici. In 1492 the dying Lorenzo had doubts about the merits of his work, and desired (but unsuccessfully) Savonarola, the preacher of repentance, as his last confessor.
Savonarola, whose memory of his bonfires horrifies current art lovers, was chasing all vanities. Botticelli's mythological works have sunk therein. But he did not reject art when it glorified the Christian virtues.
On January 30, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 13M from a lower estimate of $ 10M a 65 cm tondo on the subject of Virgin and Child. This oil on panel is still remaining in its original frame. It is a recent discovery. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is a charming example of Christian art. The naked child rises to the mother's neck for a kiss. Empathy is intense between mother and child. The tondo format, as circular as a halo, contributes to the perfection of this nicely composed image.
That picture had been executed by Baccio della Porta in the mid 1490s during the iconoclastic dictatorship of Savonarola. Born in 1472, Baccio is a young artist whose skills are already recognized. An avid follower of Savonarola, he directs his art in accordance with the theocratic vision of his guru of whom he will also execute a famous portrait.
Savonarola is executed in 1498. In 1500, Baccio becomes the Dominican friar Fra Bartolommeo (or Fra Bartolomeo). He then abandons his artistic creation for a long period, before brilliantly resuming his brushes at the time of Raphael.
Savonarola, whose memory of his bonfires horrifies current art lovers, was chasing all vanities. Botticelli's mythological works have sunk therein. But he did not reject art when it glorified the Christian virtues.
On January 30, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 13M from a lower estimate of $ 10M a 65 cm tondo on the subject of Virgin and Child. This oil on panel is still remaining in its original frame. It is a recent discovery. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is a charming example of Christian art. The naked child rises to the mother's neck for a kiss. Empathy is intense between mother and child. The tondo format, as circular as a halo, contributes to the perfection of this nicely composed image.
That picture had been executed by Baccio della Porta in the mid 1490s during the iconoclastic dictatorship of Savonarola. Born in 1472, Baccio is a young artist whose skills are already recognized. An avid follower of Savonarola, he directs his art in accordance with the theocratic vision of his guru of whom he will also execute a famous portrait.
Savonarola is executed in 1498. In 1500, Baccio becomes the Dominican friar Fra Bartolommeo (or Fra Bartolomeo). He then abandons his artistic creation for a long period, before brilliantly resuming his brushes at the time of Raphael.
.jpg)
1495-1505 Adoration of the Magi by Mantegna
1985 SOLD for £ 8M by Christie's
Andrea Mantegna was a great inventor of images. Painted at the start of his career in the mid 1450s, the Presentation, tempera on canvas 77 x 94 cm, is a close-up portrait of several half-length figures surrounding Christ. The compressed but extremely readable composition may have been inspired by Roman bas-reliefs. Such works were undoubtedly intended for private devotion.
On April 18, 1985, Christie's sold for £ 8M worth at the time $ 10.5M a similarly composed Adoration of the Magi. This distemper on linen 49 x 66 cm is a technique used by the artist at the end of his career and can be dated 1495-1505. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The three kings bring gifts to the Child, whom his mother lifts in her arms so that he can see better. Joseph assists. The three saints each have a halo made of a thin golden circle in the Byzantine style. The kings are lavishly dressed, possibly under Venetian influence. The gifts are cosmopolitan : a Chinese porcelain cup filled with gold, a Turkish censer, a covered agate cup.
On April 18, 1985, Christie's sold for £ 8M worth at the time $ 10.5M a similarly composed Adoration of the Magi. This distemper on linen 49 x 66 cm is a technique used by the artist at the end of his career and can be dated 1495-1505. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The three kings bring gifts to the Child, whom his mother lifts in her arms so that he can see better. Joseph assists. The three saints each have a halo made of a thin golden circle in the Byzantine style. The kings are lavishly dressed, possibly under Venetian influence. The gifts are cosmopolitan : a Chinese porcelain cup filled with gold, a Turkish censer, a covered agate cup.
_-_Adoration_of_the_Magi_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
TITIAN
1
for reference
1508-1510 Lochis Madonna
Accademia Carrara, Bergamo
A highly eclectic artist, Giorgione had a lasting influence in the Venetian school of painting. In his idyllic or pastoral scenes, he used nature as a setting that framed the narration. He used brilliant pigments that were imported by the city for the textiles and glass industries, and was influential in the latest style of his master Giovanni Bellini.
In the second half of the first decade, it is very difficult to distinguish the paintings by Giorgione from those by Tiziano Vecelli whose name will be latinized as Titian. Giorgione died in his mid 30s in a plague in Venice in 1510.
Early connoisseurs commented that Titian's contributions were superior to Giorgione's. A joint work is Giorgione's Venus sleeping in the nude, completed after his death by Titian and a close forerunner of Titian's Venus of Urbino.
No artist of that period could ignore the Christian scenes for his business. A panel 39 x 48 cm known as the Madonna Lochis from a previous owner, painted by Titian ca 1508-1510, features a Madonna and Child framed by verdant hills.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In the second half of the first decade, it is very difficult to distinguish the paintings by Giorgione from those by Tiziano Vecelli whose name will be latinized as Titian. Giorgione died in his mid 30s in a plague in Venice in 1510.
Early connoisseurs commented that Titian's contributions were superior to Giorgione's. A joint work is Giorgione's Venus sleeping in the nude, completed after his death by Titian and a close forerunner of Titian's Venus of Urbino.
No artist of that period could ignore the Christian scenes for his business. A panel 39 x 48 cm known as the Madonna Lochis from a previous owner, painted by Titian ca 1508-1510, features a Madonna and Child framed by verdant hills.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
1508-1510 The Rest on the Flight
2024 SOLD for £ 17.6M by Christie's
From the same period an undated Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Titian features a family in an Italian bucolic landscape that has nothing to do with Egypt. The composition is centered on the well-lit young mother in a tender embrace with her naked baby whom she had just unclothed for taking a rest. Joseph is an aging man who listens from the shadow. The title is taken from the Gospel of Matthew.
This oil on canvas laid on panel 46 x 63 cm was highlighted at a choice place near the doorway in a kunstkammer painting of the archduke of Austria in the mid 17th century by Teniers in Brussels. It was sold for £ 17.6M by Christie's on July 2, 2024, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This oil on canvas laid on panel 46 x 63 cm was highlighted at a choice place near the doorway in a kunstkammer painting of the archduke of Austria in the mid 17th century by Teniers in Brussels. It was sold for £ 17.6M by Christie's on July 2, 2024, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
3
1560 Sacra Conversazione
2011 SOLD for $ 17M by Sotheby's
In the later Renaissance, it is difficult to imagine a more complete painter than Titian. His great mythological or religious scenes offer the full range of psychological expression from violence to peace.
At the end of his life, his creativity is much alive, but he has nothing more to prove to increase his fame. Painter of sensuality and characters, he became the painter of the passions.
Circa 1560, he painted A Sacra Conversazione, also known as the Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine. We really catch the intelligence being transferred between the Child Jesus, held by his mother, and Catherine of Alexandria. The Child is active and friendly, Catherine is serious and focused, the Madonna encourages the movement of Jesus. St Luke, standing, is carefully watching.
This large painting on canvas 128 x 170 cm was sold for $ 17M by Sotheby's on January 27, 2011. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
There is no doubt about the importance of this work. Already in the 1620s, it had the honor to draw the attention of Van Dyck, who made a sketch of it in a notebook now preserved at the British Museum.
At the end of his life, his creativity is much alive, but he has nothing more to prove to increase his fame. Painter of sensuality and characters, he became the painter of the passions.
Circa 1560, he painted A Sacra Conversazione, also known as the Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine. We really catch the intelligence being transferred between the Child Jesus, held by his mother, and Catherine of Alexandria. The Child is active and friendly, Catherine is serious and focused, the Madonna encourages the movement of Jesus. St Luke, standing, is carefully watching.
This large painting on canvas 128 x 170 cm was sold for $ 17M by Sotheby's on January 27, 2011. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
There is no doubt about the importance of this work. Already in the 1620s, it had the honor to draw the attention of Van Dyck, who made a sketch of it in a notebook now preserved at the British Museum.
1520s Madonna of the Cherries by Metsys
2024 SOLD for £ 10.7M by Christie's
At the turn of the 1520s the leading master painter in Antwerp was Quentin Metsys (also spelled Massys).
The Virgin was the protector of the city. The cathedral was devoted to her. Every year on Assumption Day a lavish procession carried her image everywhere in the city.
Metsys did not miss that theme. He re-used an image from Byzantine icons on which the Virgin kisses the naked infant Christ on the mouth as he wraps his arms around her neck. Such group had been introduced in Netherlands during the Quattrocento by Dirk Bouts, to remind that Christ was born a human emotional being.
In the Madonna of the Cherries, Metsys features the group on a lavish throne. Fruit symbols are a couple of cherries in Mary's hand, plus apple and grape on a ledge in the foreground. They respectively refer to Paradise, to the original sin and to the eucharistic wine of the Last Supper.
A subtlety is added. The plump infant is so tenderly attached to the mother that he cannot perceive the cherries, carefully kept away from him as a symbol of greed which is not rejected by his supposedly pure and somehow stoic mother.
The original work was famous in Antwerp in the next century. A painting by van Haecht commemorates a visit to van der Geest by Archdukes Albert and Isabella. Highlighted by the collector amidst an imaginary gathering of famous masterpieces, the Madonna of the cherries is demonstrated by van der Geest to his archducal visitors while the likes of Rubens and van Dyck are attending.
That Madonna went out of view after a sale in 1668. The painting sold in 1920 from the Château de la Muette was considered as a copy. After being sold with an attribution to the Studio of Metsys for £ 255K by Christie's on July 9, 2015, lot 6, the La Muette copy has been cleaned of its ugly coating and repaints. In that process the green curtain hiding the landscape has been canceled.
Now acknowledged as the lost original, this oil on panel 75 x 63 cm was sold for £ 10.7M from a lower estimate of £ 8M for sale by Christie's on July 2, 2024, lot 4. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The Virgin was the protector of the city. The cathedral was devoted to her. Every year on Assumption Day a lavish procession carried her image everywhere in the city.
Metsys did not miss that theme. He re-used an image from Byzantine icons on which the Virgin kisses the naked infant Christ on the mouth as he wraps his arms around her neck. Such group had been introduced in Netherlands during the Quattrocento by Dirk Bouts, to remind that Christ was born a human emotional being.
In the Madonna of the Cherries, Metsys features the group on a lavish throne. Fruit symbols are a couple of cherries in Mary's hand, plus apple and grape on a ledge in the foreground. They respectively refer to Paradise, to the original sin and to the eucharistic wine of the Last Supper.
A subtlety is added. The plump infant is so tenderly attached to the mother that he cannot perceive the cherries, carefully kept away from him as a symbol of greed which is not rejected by his supposedly pure and somehow stoic mother.
The original work was famous in Antwerp in the next century. A painting by van Haecht commemorates a visit to van der Geest by Archdukes Albert and Isabella. Highlighted by the collector amidst an imaginary gathering of famous masterpieces, the Madonna of the cherries is demonstrated by van der Geest to his archducal visitors while the likes of Rubens and van Dyck are attending.
That Madonna went out of view after a sale in 1668. The painting sold in 1920 from the Château de la Muette was considered as a copy. After being sold with an attribution to the Studio of Metsys for £ 255K by Christie's on July 9, 2015, lot 6, the La Muette copy has been cleaned of its ugly coating and repaints. In that process the green curtain hiding the landscape has been canceled.
Now acknowledged as the lost original, this oil on panel 75 x 63 cm was sold for £ 10.7M from a lower estimate of £ 8M for sale by Christie's on July 2, 2024, lot 4. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Hugely famous in its day. Missing for centuries. Transformed by conservation: Quentin Metsys’s masterpiece, The Madonna of the Cherries. Find out more about the masterwork here: https://t.co/LZ2Cqf8VNT pic.twitter.com/mggJMaLzAC
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) June 17, 2024
1735 Madonna of the Rosary with Angels by Tiepolo
2020 SOLD for $ 17.3M by Sotheby's
At the time of the Vedutists, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo specializes in religious painting. He takes as models his great Venetian predecessors including Tintoretto and Veronese. His personal style is theatrical and overloaded, typical of the rococo taste.
On January 29, 2020, Sotheby's sld for $ 17.3M a monumental altarpiece painted by Tiepolo in 1735, oil on canvas 246 x 156 cm, lot 61.
The theme is a Madonna of the Rosary with Angels. The simple and effective composition, unusual for the artist, and the liveliness of the colors remind Titian, and the attitude is mannerist.
The artist wanted this Madonna to appear with the utmost majesty. She is standing on a stone pedestal, for being worshiped like a statue. Her youth and elegance are enhanced by a hip position. The red cloak is a symbol of royalty.
The fully unfolded rosary is hanging from her outstretched hand like an offering for an out-of-field user. This artefact brings a modernism to the image : its use in Marian prayer was recommended by Pope Benedict XIII, a former Dominican who died in 1730.
The artist has constructed an interesting symmetry between the rosary held by the Mother and the cross held by the Child. The gaze of the Mother is introverted, while that of the Child is directed towards the hand holding the rosary.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
On January 29, 2020, Sotheby's sld for $ 17.3M a monumental altarpiece painted by Tiepolo in 1735, oil on canvas 246 x 156 cm, lot 61.
The theme is a Madonna of the Rosary with Angels. The simple and effective composition, unusual for the artist, and the liveliness of the colors remind Titian, and the attitude is mannerist.
The artist wanted this Madonna to appear with the utmost majesty. She is standing on a stone pedestal, for being worshiped like a statue. Her youth and elegance are enhanced by a hip position. The red cloak is a symbol of royalty.
The fully unfolded rosary is hanging from her outstretched hand like an offering for an out-of-field user. This artefact brings a modernism to the image : its use in Marian prayer was recommended by Pope Benedict XIII, a former Dominican who died in 1730.
The artist has constructed an interesting symmetry between the rosary held by the Mother and the cross held by the Child. The gaze of the Mother is introverted, while that of the Child is directed towards the hand holding the rosary.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
