Beauregard Madonna
c. 1455
On View

Born and trained in Settignano, a village of stonecutters in Tuscany, Desiderio was one of the most talented marble sculptors of the Florentine Renaissance. A virtuoso carver, he captured the transitory nuances of expression, achieving a balance between substance and spirit. Here, the Virgin embraces and presents the Christ Child, who clutches his swaddling cloth in both hands, a gesture that conveys both visual and emotional meaning. It adds movement to the composition and it reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice with reference to his burial shroud. Desiderio’s low relief carving conveys texture and weight: the Virgin’s dress and the soft, pudgy flesh of the Infant appear to transcend the hardness of the medium.

Half-length images of the Madonna and Child adorned domestic interiors, especially the private chapels of wealthy and aristocratic families. As objects of devotion and prayer, they were believed to have power as intermediaries to their divine counterparts.

Details

  • Artist Name: Attributed to Desiderio da Settignano (Italian, 1429-1464)
  • Title: Beauregard Madonna
  • Date: c. 1455
  • Medium: White Carrara marble
  • Dimensions: 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
  • Accession Number: F.1965.1.108.S
  • Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation

Object Information

Joseph Henri, Marquis Costa de Beauregard (d. 1824), Chambéry, Savoie, bequeathed to;
Charles Albert Costa de Beauregard (1835–1909).
Mme. Jacques Seligmann, Paris, by 1913, (Sale [ex-Seligmann sale], New York, Sotheby's, 4 January 1951, lot 136, to);
[Duveen Brothers, New York, stock no. 30135, sold 1965 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.

Exposition d'Objets d' art du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance, organisée par la Marquise de Ganay

  • Paris, Hôtel de Sagan, 1913-05 to 1913-06

Italian Sculpture of the Renaissance

  • New York, Duveen Bros., 1959-11-01 to 1959-12-15

[on loan]

  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1969-04-21 to 1972-07-07

[on loan]

  • Detroit Institute of Arts, 1974-06-12 to 1975-10

[on loan]

  • Fullerton Library, 1967-10-20 to 1969-04-27

Art of Tuscany: Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture

  • New York, Duveen Galleries, 1963-11 to 1963-12

The Universe: Creation, Constellations and the Cosmos

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2001-02-04 to 2001-06-04
  • Mastai, M., The Connoisseur, p. 206
  • Avery, Charles, The Connoisseur, p. 186
  • Strom, Deborah, Pantheon, p. 130
  • Pope-Hennessy, John, Revue de l'Art, pp. 17-25
  • Middeldorf, U., Art in America, p. 13
  • Munsterberger, H., Arts, p. 57
  • La Farge, Henry, Art News, p. 16
  • Bongiorno, L., Allen_Memorial Art Museum Bulletin, 1900, pp. 120-125
  • Burrows, C., Herald Tribune, 1959, sec. 4 p. 7
  • Cardellini, Ida, Desiderio da Settignano, 1962, fig. 46
  • Pope-Hennessy, John, Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1964, no. 125 p. 150
  • Avery, Charles, Studies in European Sculpture, 1981, pp. 25-34
  • Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 19
  • Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. D69 p. 446

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