Scipione Pulzone (Gaeta, 1544 – Rome, 1598) workshop of
Madonna
Oil on canvas
cm. 55 x 43 - Framed cm. 63 x 51
Full painting details (click HERE)
This delicate and intense portrait depicts the Virgin Mary, with her head covered, gazing downwards, likely observing the body of the infant Jesus, who we can imagine placed on her lap or in the traditional cradle, but it is also similar to the Virgin of the Annunciation.
From the analysis of the work, of excellent quality, we are inclined to attribute the paternity to an author, presumably active in Rome between the 16th and 17th centuries, finding a direct comparison with the works of Scipione Pulzone (Gaeta, 1544 – Rome, 1598), one of the greatest exponents of late Mannerism as well as one of the most original interpreters of the Counter-Reformation era.
Famous for his skills as a portrait painter, he was also the creator of devotional images of Raphaelesque and timeless ancestry, masterfully interpreting post-Tridentine ideals, as evidenced by the care for the very refined rendering of the features of the face in our canvas, still close to the Mannerist taste of Florentine derivation.
A direct comparison can be made with the Virgin from the collection of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth House, reported by Federico Zeri (image 1 Zeri Photo Library, no. 32006), but also, considering it as a reduced version of larger paintings, with the Madonna della Divina Provvidenza made by Scipione for the Barnabite fathers (image 2 Rome, San Carlo ai Catinari, Chapel of the Fathers) and with the Virgin depicted in the Holy Family of the Borghese Gallery (image 3 inv. 313).
This iconic depiction of the Virgin was a great success; testimony to this are the various versions of Pulzone mentioned in the various archival sources, but also the re-proposals made by his workshop to satisfy the numerous requests of ecclesiastical and private commissions.
An example of illustrious derivation is the Beata Vergine by Marcello Venusti, now at the Borghese Gallery (image 4 inv. 178), considered a copy of the painting by Scipione Pulzone, and also the Virgin, always taken from the same prototype and work of a painter in the circle, kept at Villa Borghese Pinciana in Rome (image 5).
The conspicuous number of copies still existing, born as icons intended for the private worship of the faithful, proves the immense fortune had by this image.
1. https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/32006/Pulzone%20Scipione%2C%20Madonna
2.https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/32149/Pulzone%20Scipione%2C%20Madonna%20con%20...
3.https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/1201008074
4.https://www.collezionegalleriaborghese.it/opere/madonna-da-scipione-pulzone
5.https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/1201007957
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The painting is sold complete with a pleasant gilt frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic sheet.
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