Botticelli was one of the most individual and influential painters in Florence at the end of the fifteenth century. His melodic, linear designs have been greatly admired and are readily apparent in this panel. This composition is unusually sculptural for the artist. Forms are substantial and their disposition leads the eye into a space firmly defined by the stone parapet and middle ground arcade. The rounded hills of the landscape in the background complete the plasticity of the design. In this work, lyricism is bound to the description of natural data and the suggestion of human grace. The subtle combination of function and decoration in Botticelli's use of line provides the poetry of his paintings.
Details
- Artist Name: Sandro (Alessandro Filipepi) Botticelli (Italian, c.1444-1510)
- Title: Madonna and Child with Adoring Angel
- Date: c. 1468
- Medium: Tempera on panel
- Dimensions: 35 x 26-3/4 in. (88.9 x 68 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1987.2.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Austen, sold 12 December 1928 to;
[Duveen Bros., London and New York: New York stock no. 29467, sold 1965 to];
Norton Simon Foundation, transferred 1987 to;
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and by Deceased Masters of the British School
- London, Royal Academy, 1877 to
[on loan]
- New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1966-09-15 to
[on loan]
- New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980-12-17 to 1981-08-20
Masterpieces of Five Centuries, Forty-Eight Paintings and Sculptures from the Norton Simon Foundation and the Norton Simon, Inc. Museum
- Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, 1972-10-04 to 1973-11-04
[on loan]
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1965-06-01 to
Art of Tuscany: Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
- New York, Duveen Galleries, 1963-11 to 1963-12
Exhibition of Early Italian Art from 1300 to 1550
- London, New Gallery, 1893 to 1894
Lock, Stock and Barrel: Norton Simon's Purchase of Duveen Brothers Gallery
- Norton Simon Museum, 2014-10-24 to 2015-02-16
- Lightbown, R., Sandro Botticelli, no. A12 pp. 16-17
- Berenson, Bernard, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, as Amico di Sandro p. 459-462
- Reinach, S., Repertoire de peintures du moyen age et de la renaissance, as School of Botticelli p. 164
- Venturi, A., Gazette des Beaux-Arts, as Amico di Sandro pp. 5-11
- Mesnil, J., Botticelli, as Botticelli p. 225
- Royal Academy, Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and by Deceased Masters of the British School, 1877, no. 140, as Ghirlandaio
- New Gallery, Exhibition of Early Italian Art from 1300-1550, 1893, no. 122, as Ghirlandaio
- Berenson, Bernard, The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance with an index to their works, 1899, as Amico di Sandro p. 100
- Berenson, Bernard, The Study and Criticism of Italian art, 1901, as Amico di Sandro pp. 48-49
- Graves, A., A Century of Loan Exhibitions: 1813-1912, 1913, p. 414
- Crowe, J.; and G. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in Italy, 1914, p. 271
- Brockwell, M., La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité, 1921, as Amico di Sandro
- Marle, Raimond van, The Development of Italian Schools of Painting, 1931, as a copy p. 252
- Berenson, Bernhard, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, 1932, as studio p. 103
- Venturi, L., Italian Paintings in America, 1933, pl. 242, as Botticelli
- Gamba, C., Botticelli, 1938, pl. 14, as Botticelli p. 100
- Duveen Brothers, Art of Tuscany, 1963, no. 2
- Salvini, R., All the Paintings of Botticelli, 1965, as Botticelli pp. 15, 37
- Mandel, G.; and C. Bo, L'opera completa del Botticelli, 1967, as a replica p. 86
- Yashiro, Y., Sandro Botticelli, 1978, p. 234
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 21
- Pons, N., Catalogo completo Botticelli, 1989, no. 11a p. 55
- Cavena, C., Botticelli: Catalogo completo, 1990, no. 5A pp. 141-142
- Lloyd, C., Italian Paintings before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago, 1993, pp. 41-44
- Boskovitis, Miklos, Brown, David Alan, et al., Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century, 2003, pp. 154, 155, 156
- Arasse, Daniel, De Vecchi, Pierluigi, Katz Nelson, Jonathan, Botticelli e Filippino. L'inquietudine e la grazia nella pittura fioentina del Quattrocento, 2003, p. 192
- Acidini, Cristina, Botticelli nel suo tempo, 2009, p. 92, ill. p. 93
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. D8 p. 441
- Renato Miracco, Italian Treasures in the U.S. An Itinerary of Art, 2014, p. #41
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