Madonna and Child with Adoring Angel
c. 1468
On View

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

Mr. and Mrs. J. Francis Austen, Capel Manor, Horsmonden, Kent, England, from at least 1877 (sale, London, Christie's, 18 March 1921, lot 85, ill., as Amico di Sandro. ?bought-in).
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
  • Berenson, Bernard, Gazette des Beaux-Arts,as Amico di Sandro p. 459-462
  • Cavena, C., Botticelli: Catalogo completo,no. 5A pp. 141-142
  • Venturi, L., Italian Paintings in America,pl. 242, as Botticelli
  • Duveen Brothers, Art of Tuscany,no. 2
  • Reinach, S., Repertoire de peintures du moyen age et de la renaissance,as School of Botticelli p. 164
  • Lloyd, C., Italian Paintings before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago, pp. 41-44
  • Gamba, C., Botticelli,pl. 14, as Botticelli p. 100
  • Renato Miracco, Italian Treasures in the U.S. An Itinerary of Art,2014, p. #41
  • Venturi, A., Gazette des Beaux-Arts,as Amico di Sandro pp. 5-11
  • Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum,1989, p. 21
  • Berenson, Bernhard, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance,as studio p. 103
  • Mesnil, J., Botticelli,as Botticelli p. 225
  • Arasse, Daniel, De Vecchi, Pierluigi, Katz Nelson, Jonathan, Botticelli e Filippino. L'inquietudine e la grazia nella pittura fioentina del Quattrocento,2003, p. 192
  • Crowe, J.; and G. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in Italy, p. 271
  • Lightbown, R., Sandro Botticelli,no. A12 pp. 16-17
  • Berenson, Bernard, The Study and Criticism of Italian art,as Amico di Sandro pp. 48-49
  • Salvini, R., All the Paintings of Botticelli,as Botticelli pp. 15, 37
  • Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best,2010, cat. D8 p. 441
  • Brockwell, M., La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité,as Amico di Sandro
  • Boskovitis, Miklos, Brown, David Alan, et al., Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century, pp. 154, 155, 156
  • Graves, A., A Century of Loan Exhibitions: 1813-1912, p. 414
  • Mandel, G.; and C. Bo, L'opera completa del Botticelli,as a replica p. 86
  • Acidini, Cristina, Botticelli nel suo tempo, p. 92, ill. p. 93
  • Yashiro, Y., Sandro Botticelli, p. 234
  • Royal Academy, Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and by Deceased Masters of the British School,no. 140, as Ghirlandaio
  • Berenson, Bernard, The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance with an index to their works,as Amico di Sandro p. 100
  • Pons, N., Catalogo completo Botticelli,no. 11a p. 55
  • Marle, Raimond van, The Development of Italian Schools of Painting,as a copy p. 252
  • New Gallery, Exhibition of Early Italian Art from 1300-1550,no. 122, as Ghirlandaio
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