(Bologna 1581–1641 Naples)
Madonna delle Rose
oil on canvas, 98 x 77 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

Literature:
P. Caretta, “Copie e repliche nell’opera di Domenichino: il caso della Madonna delle Rose”, in: Storia dell’Arte, 108, 2004, pp. 95–124, fig. 4 (as by Domenico Zampieri, called Domenichino)

Two further versions of the present painting are known, one conserved in Chatsworth (Devonshire Collection) and another in Poznan´ (Muzeum Narodwe). According to Caretta (see literature), the present work is the autograph prototype by Domenichino on which both of these versions are based.

According to Caretta the present painting is the superior version created by the artist’s disegno and use of colours. Several inventive details in the present composition are also notable, such as the tiny thorns at the stems of the roses, one of which sticks in the Christ Child’s small finger, or the reversed rose in the lower left corner. This latter motif, the scholar argues, may be regarded as Domenichino’s signature, as it does not appear in the other two versions. The present painting lacks the inscription which in the other versions appears on the stone pedestal at the lower edge however Caretto argues that this is visible in infrared reflectography.

The Madonna’s perfect oval face and the expressions of Mary’s and Christ’s mouths and eyes vividly illustrate the mastery in the depiction of emotions that was already praised by his contemporaries. In its pink complexion, oval shape, and the middle parting of her hair, the Madonna’s face is close to Domenichino’s Cumaean Sibyl (Rome, Galleria Borghese) and to the Virgin’s figure in the artist’s Madonna del Rosario (Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale). The present painting is also related to Domenichino’s King David (Versailles, Musée National du Château de Versailles), in which the face of the angel on the left-hand side corresponds to that of the Madonna, as well as his Saint Agnes (Hampton Court Palace). Since all of these paintings by Domenichino are dated to around 1620, it can be assumed that the composition was executed during the same period.

In a document dating from 1627, Guido Nolfi, a Rome-based lawyer from Fano, mentioned a painting by Domenico Zampieri showing a “Madonna S.ma delle Rose”. This Madonna may have been a gift he had received from Domenichino during his stay in Fano, which Giovanni Pietro Bellori described in his biography (G. P. Bellori, Le vite de´ pittori, scultori e architetti moderni, ed. by E. Borea, Turin, 1976, p. 331); the artist had decorated the Capella Nolfi in the local cathedral with frescoes.

Richard Spear believes that the version in Poznan´ (Muzeum Narodwe) is the autograph principal version (see R. E. Spear, Dominichino, New Haven and London 1982, p. 212-213, no. 59, plate no. 222) and that the present work is a copy that derives from it.

Additional images
The Madonna della Rosa in Póznan, Raczynski Foundation, Muzeum Narodne
The Madonna della Rosa at Chatsworth © Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth.
Reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees.

Provenance:
Private European collection

Literature:
P. Caretta, “Copie e repliche nell’opera di Domenichino: il caso della Madonna delle Rose”, in: Storia dell’Arte, 108, 2004, pp. 95–124, fig. 4 (as by Domenico Zampieri, called Domenichino)

Two further versions of the present painting are known, one conserved in Chatsworth (Devonshire Collection) and another in Poznan´ (Muzeum Narodwe). According to Caretta (see literature), the present work is the autograph prototype by Domenichino on which both of these versions are based.

According to Caretta the present painting is the superior version created by the artist’s disegno and use of colours. Several inventive details in the present composition are also notable, such as the tiny thorns at the stems of the roses, one of which sticks in the Christ Child’s small finger, or the reversed rose in the lower left corner. This latter motif, the scholar argues, may be regarded as Domenichino’s signature, as it does not appear in the other two versions. The present painting lacks the inscription which in the other versions appears on the stone pedestal at the lower edge however Caretto argues that this is visible in infrared reflectography.

The Madonna’s perfect oval face and the expressions of Mary’s and Christ’s mouths and eyes vividly illustrate the mastery in the depiction of emotions that was already praised by his contemporaries. In its pink complexion, oval shape, and the middle parting of her hair, the Madonna’s face is close to Domenichino’s Cumaean Sibyl (Rome, Galleria Borghese) and to the Virgin’s figure in the artist’s Madonna del Rosario (Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale). The present painting is also related to Domenichino’s King David (Versailles, Musée National du Château de Versailles), in which the face of the angel on the left-hand side corresponds to that of the Madonna, as well as his Saint Agnes (Hampton Court Palace). Since all of these paintings by Domenichino are dated to around 1620, it can be assumed that the composition was executed during the same period.

In a document dating from 1627, Guido Nolfi, a Rome-based lawyer from Fano, mentioned a painting by Domenico Zampieri showing a “Madonna S.ma delle Rose”. This Madonna may have been a gift he had received from Domenichino during his stay in Fano, which Giovanni Pietro Bellori described in his biography (G. P. Bellori, Le vite de´ pittori, scultori e architetti moderni, ed. by E. Borea, Turin, 1976, p. 331), the artist had decorated the Capella Nolfi in the local cathedral with frescoes.

Richard Spear believes that the version in Poznan´ (Muzeum Narodwe) is the autograph principal version (see R. E. Spear, Dominichino, New Haven and London 1982, p. 212-213, no. 59, plate no. 222) and that the present work is a copy that derives from it.

Additional images
The Madonna della Rosa in Póznan, Raczynski Foundation, Muzeum Narodne
The Madonna della Rosa at Chatsworth © Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth.
Reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees.