(Cortona 1450–1523)
Madonna and Child,
oil on panel, 45.5 x 32 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, United Kingdom, from before the 1960s;
Private collection, London

Exhibited:
London, National Gallery, Signorelli in British Collections, 11th November 1998 – 31st January 1999, no. 20

Literature:
T. Henry, Signorelli in British Collections, exhibition catalogue, London 1998, p. 24, no. 20, illustrated;
T. Henry and L. Kanter, The complete paintings: Luca Signorelli, London 2001 and New York 2002, pp. 211-212, no. 71, illustrated;
T. Henry, The Life and Art of Luca Signorelli, New Heaven 2012, pp. 226-227, fig. 213.

This Madonna and Child by Luca Signorelli was rediscovered and given to the artist’s catalogue of works on the occasion of the London exhibition in 1998. Although the picture is smaller than most of Signorelli’s Madonna´s, the composition and handling are characteristic of Signorelli. The figure in the right background can probably be identified as Saint Christopher carrying Christ across a river.

Dating the present work is not straightforward as elements from different phases of Signorelli’s career are discernible, as Henry and Kanter note (see literature). The composition, especially the design of the Madonna, who dominates the pictorial space, is clearly comparable to works of the 1480s, such as the Madonna and Child with Saints in the Pallavicini-Rospigliosi collection, Rome, and the Holy Family in the National Gallery, London. All share a close interest in the careful description of the Madonna’s hands; the London painting in particular places the right hand which reaches for her breast in a very similar way to the present work. However, the soft handling and gradual toning of the Madonna’s face and hair, similar to the Bache Madonna of 1507 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, look later and suggest a date in the early 1500s. The picture can also be compared with the fresco on the entrance wall of the Capella Nova at Orvieto (1504) and the tondo formerly in the Korda collection (around 1504).

Technical analysis

The underdrawing shown by IR reflectography is typical of Signorelli´s working practice, showing thin black contours, probably traced from a cartoon, with areas of etching for the shadows (apparent on the Madonna´s right hand). Hatching is found in some of his Signorelli´s early works, while he generally used pouncing to transfer a drawing from paper.

A particularly interesting change of compostion is evident in the position of the Child which was modified at least twice to find the most suitable form. The Child´s body appears to have been originally placed further down the compostion and then raised in order to bring the two heads together in a more intimate gesture.
Azurite has been used as a blue pigment, according to spectroscopic exams.

We are grateful to Gianluca Poldi for his analysis of the present painting.

Additional image:
Infrared reflectograph of the present painting