(Antwerp 1520 – c. 1567)
“Madonna del velo”,
oil on panel, 130.3 x 95.6 cm, framed

Provenance:
European private collection

Literature:
Rubens e la pittura fiamming a del’600, exhib. cat., ed. by D. Bodart, Cagliari, 1990, pp. 108/9, n. 1 (as P. P. Rubens)

The present painting, which was once attributed to Lukas de Heere and subsequently to Peter Paul Rubens (written communication, Didier Bodart, 29 October 1988; Rubens e la pittura fiamminga del’600, exhib. cat., ed. by D. Bodart, Cagliari, 1990, S. 108/9, n. 1), comes from the workshop of Cornelis van Cleve and is a copy based on Raphael’s Madonna del Velo.
The scene depicts the Infant Jesus resting on a cushion and the Virgin Mary, who tenderly looks down on the Child from above. She holds her transparent veil, which the Child seeks to catch with his hands. From the shadowed area behind the Virgin, the scene is observed by Saint Joseph. This intimate rendering of the Holy Family reflects the fascination of the Renaissance with Christ’s humanity. The original version of the panel, which numbers among Raphael’s most famous compositions and which was copied numerous times, was only recently identified as the so-called Madonna of Loretto in the Musée Condé, Chantilly. It seems that Pope Julius II commissioned the painting from Raphael in 1509 and had it installed on a column next to his own portrait during ceremonies of the Roman-Catholic church.