Description
This is an early painting by an artist whose mature work was renowned throughout Europe for its virtuoso spatial effects and emotional intensity. Worked out with remarkable sophistication for a young artist, the arrangement of the figures combines the clarity of a conventional half-length devotional image with a twisting seated pose derived primarily from Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. Also indebted to Leonardo is the Virgin’s veiled half-smile and the soft light, qualities that defined Correggio’s style throughout his career.
Provenance
Baron Nicholas Massias, Paris, by 1815; sold Laneuville and Lacoste, Paris, December 13 or following, 1825 (originally scheduled for December 14, 1824), no. 27, as Bernardo Luini, for Fr 4,000 [according to Landon 1815, p. 17]. Private collection, Germany [statement from Wildenstein and correspondence of John Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago Archives; Maxon recounted that the Milanese collector cited below bought the picture sometime around the beginning or end of World War II at an unidentified public auction in Germany as Italian, first quarter of the sixteenth century]. Minari collection, Milan [statement of Wildenstein (without reference to collector's name) and Maxon papers, The Art Institute of Chicago]. Wildenstein, New York; sold to the Art Institute, 1965.
Accession Number
23972
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
64.2 × 50.2 cm (25 1/4 × 19 3/4 in.); Framed: 79.4 × 63.9 × 8.3 cm (31 1/4 × 25 1/8 × 3 1/4 in.)
Classification
oil on panel
Credit Line
Clyde M. Carr Fund