(Pontormo 1494–1557 Florence)
Madonna and Child – Madonna del Libro,
indistinctly dated on the book upper right (?),
oil on panel, 122.7 x 103 cm, unframed

*Associate means: a work created within the artist’s sphere of influence

Provenance:
Private collection, Switzerland

The composition of the present painting, known as the Madonna del Libro is one of the most celebrated, not only within Pontormo’s artistic production, but in Florentine Cinquecento art in general. Despite this, the origins of the composition remain largely shrouded in mystery and the original prototype has been considered lost.

In the second edition of the Vite, Vasari (see G. Vasari, Le Vite de’ più eccellenti pittori,scultori et architetti, 1568, ed. G. Milanesi, vol. VI, pp. 279–280) mentioned several Madonnas painted by Pontormo, but without providing detailed descriptions. According to Vasari, Pontormo gave one of these paintings to a friend, a builder called Rossino, which was later recorded in the collection of Ottaviano de’ Medici (see A. Nesi, Uno studio sulla ‘Madonna del libro’ del Pontormo, Florence 2010).

Various versions of the present composition have been considered to be Pontormo’s missing original. In 1951, Roberto Longhi proposed identifying Pontormo’s prototype as the Madonna and Child (oil on panel, 125 x 105 cm) in a private collection, Florence, which was included in the exhibition Fontainebleau e la Maniera Italiana (ed. by F. Bologna and R. Causa, Naples 1952, p. 9). Meanwhile, in 1983, John Shearman considered the version (oil on panel, 122 x 102.5 cm) now in the Royal Collection, Hampton Court as the original (The Early Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Cambridge 1983, pp. 201–202). In his 1994 monograph, Philippe Costamagna considered Pontormo’s original prototype to be lost, however in 2003 he endorsed an oval work (oil on panel, 80.7 x 64.1 cm; Sotheby’s, New York, 23 January 2003, lot 37) as the missing original, now conserved in the Yale University Art Gallery (inv. no. 2006.111.1 – as left incomplete by Pontormo in circa 1545–46 and later cut to an oval format).

Several dates of execution have been advanced for Pontormo’s Madonna del Libro. The composition relates to works by Michelangelo and it is known that the two artists had a close association during the 1530s. In fact, in 1531, Michelangelo suggested that Pontormo transpose his Noli me Tangere cartoon into a painting for Alfonso d’Avalos and this work has been thought to be the panel conserved in Casa Buonarroti in Florence (inv. 1890 no. 6307), however, there is also another version in a private collection in Lombardy (see. D. Geronimus, ‘A More Loving and Constant Heart’: Vittoria Colonna, Alfonso d’Avalos, Michelangelo and the Complicated History of Pontormo’s ‘Noli me tangere’, in: V. Cox, S. McHugh (eds.), Vittoria Colonna. Poetry, Religion, Art, Impact, Amsterdam 2022, p. 233).

The Noli me Tangere composition shares several pictorial elements with the known versions of the Madonna del Libro: the drapery of the Madonna’s gown, the colour palette, and the geometric architectural structure in the background. Other works from the same period of Pontormo’s career include the Madonna and Child and Saint John the Baptist in the Uffizi (inv. 1890 no. 4347) and the Saint Jerome in the Landesmuseum Hanover (inv. no. KM 132), both of which are dated around 1529–1530 and were probably left unfinished due to the siege of Florence by Emperor Charles V.

The hypothesis that the Madonna del Libro should be identified as the painting Pontormo gave to the builder Rossino, who, according to Vasari, had renovated his house, is supported by a document from the 1534 Florence cadastre showing that the artist’s home had been renovated during this period (see J. Cox-Rearick, S. J. Freedberg, A Pontormo (Partly) Recovered, in: The Burlington Magazine, September 1983, vol. 125, no. 966, p. 522).

The present Madonna and Child is characterised by a high painterly quality and is strongly related to Pontormo’s mature works, as evidenced by the careful modelling of the flesh tones, the drapery, the vibrant colours, as well as the skilful undrawing. It is therefore possible that the artist was closely associated with Pontormo’s inner circle and may have had access to his models and workshop materials. Moreover, the dimensions of the panel are almost identical to those of the aforementioned painting at Hampton Court, while many other known versions are smaller.

The composition revisits the iconography of the Madonna of Humility, probably conceived by Simone Martini and later widely disseminated in Tuscany. The Madonna is depicted seated on the ground, without a throne, halo, or other symbols identifying her as the Mother of Christ. In the background, Saint Joseph can be seen engaged in his work as a carpenter, while the young Saint John the Baptist offers him a basket containing cherries, symbolising Christ’s Passion. In other versions of this composition the objects in the basket vary: sometimes showing nails or grapes. The female figure in the background holding a book can be identified as Saint Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.

The urban landscape in the background is also quite striking, and art historians have suggested that it depicts the spire of the now-destroyed bell tower of the Florentine church of San Pier Maggiore and other surrounding buildings (see Cox-Rearick, Freedberg 1983, p. 527, note 34).

Technical analysis by Gianluca Poldi

The painting is made on a wood panel about 4cm thick, with a wedge-shaped traversing system with a trapezoidal cross-section, Florentine style. The support has not been reduced and traces of the white gesso preparatory ground appear on all the four sides. The wood support still shows signs of the planer or chisel on the verso, and appears, by examining the X-ray, to consist of three planks, assembled vertically. The boards are very well preserved, with few traces of old woodworm galleries.

The painted surface is also well preserved overall, with a little loss of the original material in the top centre and, minimally, along the lower edge. Retouching can be seen in these areas and in a few other areas, including some shadows of the Madonna’s red robe.

IR reflectography, carried out in three different bands, reveal a thin outline underdrawing – barely visible – along the contours of the figures and to mark the folds of the Madonna’s clothing. This is accompanied by hatching underdrawing, used mainly to mark the shading of the Madonna’s red robe, also detected in her neck and along the Child’s legs, perhaps also partly in his face. The characteristics of these hatchings are interesting, with subtle and rather spaced-out short strokes, without a fixed orientation, similar to those sometimes found in works by Pontormo, such as under the Madonna and Child with Saint John in the Uffizi (circa 1530) or in finish, in colour, in the figures of the Annunciation frescoed (circa 1527) in the Capponi Chapel in Santa Felicita, Florence.

Another feature reminiscent of the technique of certain works by Pontormo are some brushwork that is hatched and scomposto - brush strokes in different directions. They can be better read in IR images in the dark areas. The only area where one can see a freehand drawing, done with a brush, is the Madonna’s hair on the right side of her face: part underdrawing and part painting. Apart from that, no changes were detected by IRR and X-rays, indicating that the original drawing was carefully followed.

The work is painted with remarkable quality, as also microscopic investigations ascertain, with peculiar choices regarding pigment layers and mixtures, detected by Reflectance Spectrometry (vis-RS).

Ultramarine blue was used in the Madonna’s blue veil, painted on a pinkish priming layer made of red lake and vermillion mixed to lead white. While black pigment is probably added to the mixture in the shadows. The dark brown colour of the sky is due to the use of smalt blue, later discoloured due to pigment-oil interaction. The same pigment and the same problem is found in Joseph’s blue-grey-brownish robe in the background on the right. Smalt blue, discoloured, is also contained in the now almost black mantle of the Madonna, together with a red pigment (vermillion) and a black pigment, probably used to keep the tone dark, to differentiate it from the veil. A darkened verdigris constitutes the Madonna’s sleeves, while her red robe is made of vermillion and a carmine type red lake, more abundant in the glazing of the shadows, of course. A mix of lead white, vermillion and larger grains of red lake is used in the flesh tones, in different proportions. The grey tone of the book’s pages, which are devoid of text as confirmed by IR and UV investigations, is also obtained by using azurite mixed with brown ochres, parts of black, vermillion and black pigment. Its preparatory base is brown.

The markings at the top of the small book (probably a Book of Hours) held by the woman passing through the town gate could be interpreted as a date, which could be ‘15(6?)3’. The painting of the same subject conserved in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is dated, ‘1561’, but in the present case the dating is not so simple, because in this area there are two layers of black symbols, simulating writing, the first layer is covered by a white glaze before other symbols were painted. The two external digits/numbers of the presumed number/year are executed with black pigment, in finishing, while the two central ones are grey and belong to the first draft, partially covered with lead white. So, it appears to be, under the microscope, more a simulated date than a real chronological reference.