Virgin and Child with an Angel

Tempera on panelSandro Botticelli (Italian, 1444/45–1510)/1475–85

Description

In this humanizing yet idealized depiction of the Virgin Mary embracing the baby Jesus, Sandro Botticelli conveyed the sacred beauty of maternal love. Mary, her expression soft and her skin luminous, nuzzles her son’s chubby cheek as he grasps the nape of her neck. An angel, smaller in scale, looks on adoringly. Highly celebrated in his own lifetime, Botticelli developed a distinctly sentimental and tactile style of painting for both religious and secular subjects.

Provenance

Possibly Dr. Paoletti, Florence [according to a note in the curatorial file, recording the remark of a Dr. Richter, presumably Jean Paul, during a visit to the Epstein home in June 1935]. Jules Féral, Paris, 1907–19 [according to Lightbown 1978]; sold by Féral to a Scandinavian collector, 1919 [according to Lightbown 1978]. Arnold van Buuren, Naarden, Holland; sold, Sotheby Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, May 26–27, 1925, lot 20, for 25,500 guilders [according to an annotated copy of the sale catalogue in the Getty Research Institute]. Max Epstein (d. 1954), Chicago, from 1925 or 1928 to 1954 [Levey and Mandel 1967 stated that Epstein purchased the work in 1925, but it may not have arrived in the United States until May 1928, corresponding to registrar’s records dated May 15, 1928]; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1954; on loan to his widow, Leola Epstein, Chicago, 1955–68.

Dimensions

85.8 × 59.1 cm (33 3/4 × 23 1/4 in.)

Source

The Art Institute of Chicago

Movement / Period

Renaissance

Accession No

80530

Official Citations

[The Art Institute of Chicago Official Record][Full Resolution Image]

Curatorial Affinity Stream

Continuing the Universe of Sandro Botticelli (Italian, 1444/45–1510)

Renaissance • Italy • Harmonious Works & Contemporaries

Continuous Discovery