Description
Elisabetta Sirani attr.
Madonna and Child Sleeping
Oil on canvas
83.5x62 cm
Stylistic and figurative references place it in central Italy and certainly in the Bolognese environment of the second half of the 17th century. There are also clear references to the depiction of the Madonna Adoring the Child by the renowned painter Guido Reni. The work is a 17th-century painting that features the iconic Reni image of the Madonna prostrate before the sleeping Child as its subject. The production from Reni's circle recalls two versions of this subject: the first, closer to the original, depicting the Virgin with folded hands in prayer, created by the follower Giovanni Battista Salvi, known as Sassoferrato, and his circle; the second, identical to the one under examination, with the Virgin prostrate with her hands on her chest, as a sign of devout reverence and adoration, created by the painter Elisabetta Sirani and preserved in the museum of the church of the Girolamini in Naples.
The attribution to the Bolognese painter is highly plausible due to the quality of execution of the skin tones and the rendering of the drapery. The color palette and stylistic characteristics confirm this attribution and link it to the work in Naples.
From the critical analysis by Dr. Michele Peli
The painting is accompanied by:
Expertise by Dr. Michele Peli
Dimensions
83.5x62 cm
Provenance
Private collection
Condition
The work, on a second canvas, shows slight and negligible signs of retouching from previous restorations.
