LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Size Notes:

1 https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010066107 2 https://museopoldipezzoli.it/en/paintings/#/dettaglio/119309_Madonna%20con%20Bambino%20e%20agnello

Edition:

This painting is a rare 17th-century copy after Leonardo da Vinci's iconic image of The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne today in the Muse du Louvre, Paris.1 As a 17th-century copy, it must have been painted by an artist with access to the private rooms of Louis XIII, where Leonardo's panel hung from 1636, when it was presented to the King by Cardinal Richelieu. Works in the French Royal collection were very hard to access before the Revolution (1789-99) and it was primarily court painters who were granted this privilege. It was only after the Revolution that the Royal collection became accessible to the public via the creation of museums such as the Muse du Louvre. Most other copies of this composition are instead based on Leonardo's cartoon, copies after the cartoon (the most renowned being that owned by Padre Resta, lost in Budapest during WW2 but recorded in photographs,2 and that in Turin which is widely attributed to Bernardo Lanino)3, or deriving from Salai's version on panel today in the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.5

Description:

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Markings:

The canvas is lined and the paint surface is relatively dirty with a discoloured varnish. There are some retouched losses visible scattered throughout, notably in the blue of the Madonnas dress. There are also some small paint losses, notably along the edges as well as a larger one in the Madonnas side (approx. 1 x 1.5cm.). Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals the fluorescing varnish underneath which the aforementioned retouchings are confirmed, and further small and cosmetic retouchings revealed in the rest of the composition, including to a horizontal scratch across Saint Annes face - but no major damages. The painting is in overall fairly good condition and would benefit from cleaning and light restoration.

Condition:

unframed: 136 x 108 cm.; 53 x 42 in.