Madonna and Child

Former TitleThe Virgin and Child

Artist Circle of Gregorio di Lorenzo (Italian, 1470 - 1499)

Formerly attributed to Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (Italian, 1437 - 1493)

Formerly attributed to Pietro Lombardi (ca. 1435 - 1515)

Dateca. 1470

MediumMarble

DimensionsOverall: 26 × 5 3/4 inches (66.04 × 14.61 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number33-111

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

European Art

Terms

Exhibition History

Exhibition of Sacred Art, San Francesco da Bologna, May-June 1900, no cat.

Eighteenth Loan Exhibition of Old Masters, The Detroit Institute of Arts, January 7-February 20, 1938, no. 59.

Gallery Label

This undocumented tondo (a painting or sculpture of circular format) is unanimously considered an autograph work by Francesco di Simone of about 1470, when his style was still very much influenced by that of Desiderio da Settignano (1428-1464). It is accomplished in the technique of rilievo schiacciato-compressed relief-meaning that the composition is rendered in very shallow carving with minimal depth between the surface and the background plane. Like so many other examples of similar scale and subject matter, the relief was surely made in connection with a wall tomb, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing. The round shape suggests an oculus, an opening into Heaven, through which the soul of the deceased (whose recumbent effigy lies atop the sarcophagus) might pass, there to be welcomed by the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ and divine intercessor with God on behalf of mankind.

Provenance

Domenica Rossi-Grabinska, Palazzo dal Pozzo, Imola and Bologna, Italy, as by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci, by 1892-at least 1908 [1];

With Trotti et Cie, Paris, by September 21, 1923 [2];

Purchased from Trotti et Cie by Jacques Seligmann and Co., Paris and New York, stock nos. P9589 and NY3672, and P12473 and NY4977, as by Pietro Lombardi, September 21, 1923-April 9, 1933;

Purchased from Jacques Seligmann and Co. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1933.

NOTES:

[1] According to Leo Planiscig, “Pietro Lombardi ed alcuni bassirilievi veneziani del ‘400,” Dedalo 10 (1929-1930), 480-481, this sculpture was previously in the Rossi-Grabinska collection but more recently in Paris and New York.

[2] Archives of American Art, Washington, DC, Jacques Seligmann and Co. Records, box 299, folder 4, Consular Invoices 1930. Copy in NAMA curatorial files.

Published References

Adolfo Venturi, Archivio Storico dell’arte (1892), 381, (repro.).

M. C. Martelli, “Corrieri artistici: Bologna,” Rassegna d’arte (1901): 62, (repro.).

Hans Graeven, “Ausstellung sacraler Kunstgegenstände in Bologna, Mai-Juni 1900,” Zeitschrift für Christliche Kunst 11 (1901), 342.

Adolfo Venturi, "L'Esposizione d'arte sacra a Bologna," L'arte 3 (1900): 310.

Wilhelm von Bode, Denkmäler der Renaissance-Sculptur Toscanas in Historischer Anordnung (Munich: Verlagsanstalt F. Bruckmann A.-G., 1905), 150.

Cornelius von Fabriczy, "Die Bildhauerfamilie Ferrucci aus Fiesole," Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 29 (1908): 9.

Adolfo Venturi, Storia dell’arte Italiana, vol. 6 (Milan: U. Hoepli, 1908), 730.

Francesco Malaguzzi Valeri, “Sculpture del Rinascimento a Bologna,” Dedalo 3 (1922-1923): 361, 368-69, (repro.).

Leo Planiscig, “Pietro Lombardi ed alcuni bassirilievi veneziani del ‘400,” Dedalo 10 (1929-30): 480-1, (repro.).

Adolfo Venturi, “Pietro Lombardi e alcuni bassorilievi veneziani del ‘400 Nota dedicata al dott. Leo Planiscig,” L’Arte (1930): 199.

Leo Planiscig, “Open letter from Dr. Planiscig to Professor Venturi,” Dedalo 11 (1930-1931): 32-33, (repro.).

“Nelson Gallery Masterpiece of the Month: Marble Tondo of Madonna and Child Is Gallery’s Masterpiece,” (December 5, 1937), as Tondo of Madonna and Child, clipping, scrapbook, NAMA Archives, vol. 7, p. 122.

Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner, Italian Sculpture, 1250-1500, exh. cat. (Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1938), unpaginated, (repro.).

John Pope-Hennessy, Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, vol. 1 (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1964), 170.

Donald R. Schrader, "Francesco di Simone Ferrucci, 1437-1493" (PhD diss., University of Virginia, 1994), 137-139, 270, (repro.).

Linda Pisani, Francesco di Simone Ferrucci: Itinerari di uno scultore fiorentino fra Toscana, Romagna e Montefeltro (Florence: Leo S. Olschki Editore, 2007), 3n18, 7, 7n38, 104, (repro.), as Madonna col Bambino.

Eleonora Belli, Madonne Bardini: Madonna Reliefs from the Second Half of the Florentine Quattrocento (Florence: Museo Stefano Bardini, 2017), 164-167, (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.