(documented Perugia 1436–1484 Orvieto)
The Madonna and Child,
tempera and oil on panel, gold ground, 44 x 54 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of Otto Lanz (1865–1935), Amsterdam, by 1924 (as Andrea Vanni);
Castle Gros-Bois, Renaz (according to Literature);
Collection of Jean Zanchi, Lausanne, 1985 (as Andrea Vanni);
Private European collection

Literature:
R. van Marle, The development of Italian Schools of painting, The Hague 1924, II, p. 437, not illustrated (as Andrea Vanni);
M. Boskovits, Pittura umbra e marchigiana fra Medioevo e Rinascimento. Studi nella Galleria Nazionale di Perugia, Florence 1973, p. 27, illustrated p. 118 fig. 87 (as Pietro di Nicola Baroni da Orvieto);
D. Bodart, The Zanchi collection, Rome 1985, p. 311 (as Andrea Vanni);
F. Todini, La pittura umbra dal Duecento al primo Cinquecento, Milan 1989, I, p. 289, not illustrated (as Pietro di Nicola Baroni da Orvieto);
A. Kobler, in: Saur. Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, Munich 1993, vol. VII, p. 133, not illustrated (as Pietro di Nicola Baroni);
G. Testa, La cappellina dei Corpi Santi e la cappellina della Maddalena, in: La Cappella Nova o di San Brizio nel Duomo di Orvieto, Milan 1996, p. 273, cited under footnote no. 19 (as Pietro di Nicola Baroni)

The present painting is registered in the Fototeca Zeri under no. 18803 as Andrea Vanni.

We are grateful to Andrea G. De Marchi for endorsing the attribution after examining the present painting in the original and for his help in cataloguing this lot. He dates this work to 1440/50.

In the present composition, the Madonna appears as both Queen of Heaven and Mother, enveloped in golden light. She offers her blessing to all those who dedicated their prayers to her, while gently resting her cheek on her child’s head.

The present work was considered to be by Andrea Vanni, until Boskovits first attributed it to Pietro di Nicola Baroni (see literature). The present painting can be compared to the polyptych conserved in the Museum in Kiev, executed for the Sylvestrine convent of San Benedetto in Perugia: its central panel, showing the Madonna and Child with two kneeling angels and signed ‘Petri Urbevetere opus’ [Pietro da Orvieto], can almost be overlapped with the present composition. This work can also be compared to the Madonna and Child in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, attributed to Pietro di Nicola Baroni (inv. no. 1757).

Pietro di Nicola Baroni is documented from 1436 in Perugia and later in Orvieto until the end of his career. He appears to have been strongly influenced by the fresco of the Madonna and Child enthroned by Gentile da Fabriano in the nave of the Duomo of Orvieto (1425). His first real opportunity to demonstrate his artistic talent came in 1447, when he was part of Fra Angelico’s team working on the frescoes of the Cappella Nuova in the Duomo of Orvieto. He was well-regarded in Umbria, particularly later in his career. He was consulted regarding the polyptych that Pier Matteo d’Amelia painted for Sant’Agostino in 1481, as well as Perugino’s appointment for the completion of the frescoes of the Cappella Nuova of the Duomo in 1489. Therefore, Pietro da Orvieto can be considered as one of the artists who influenced Renaissance painting in Perugia.