Madonna and Child

Provenance

Pazzi family, Florence.[1] Count Giacomo Michelozzi, Tavarnelle, Florence;[2] (Luigi Grassi, Florence); purchased by 20 May 1921 by Henry Goldman [1857-1937], New York.[3] (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); purchased 26 April 1937 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[4] gift 1937 to NGA. [1] According to the 1922 catalogue of the Goldman collection (see note 3), the sculpture is "from a private chapel in one of the palaces belonging to the Pazzi family in Florence." [2] The Duveen prospectus for the painting (in NGA curatorial files) describes the sculpture as having been made originally for one of the Pazzi family palaces, and then owned by Michelozzi, "in whose family it had remained for over a century." [3] Letter of 20 May 1921 from Henry Goldman to Joseph Duveen. (Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Series II, box. 457, folder 1, copy in NGA curatorial records. See GRI for digitized copies.) This letter was kindly brought to the NGA’s attention by Fabio Gaffo; see his emails of 14 October 2021 and 2 November 2021 to Alison Luchs in NGA curatorial files. The sculpture appeared in the Goldman catalogue published a year later. Wilhelm R. Valentiner. The Henry Goldman Collection, New York, 1922: no. 4 [4] Mellon collection records, in NGA curatorial files.

Madonna and Child

and Workshop of Donatello

c.1420/1425

Accession Number

1937.1.112

Medium

painted and gilded terracotta

Dimensions

overall: 120.8 x 47.2 x 33.5 cm (47 9/16 x 18 9/16 x 13 3/16 in.)

Classification

Sculpture

Museum

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

Credit Line

Andrew W. Mellon Collection