Ansidei Madonna
Encyclopedia
The Ansidei Madonna is a 1505-1507 painting
by the Italian
High Renaissance
artist Raphael
, painted during his Florentine
period. It shows the Blessed Virgin Mary sitting on a wooden throne, with the child Christ
on her lap. On her right John the Baptist
stands, on her left Saint Nicholas
is reading.
At the time the painting was commissioned, there were other paintings that made up the grouping for the altarpiece. Of the predellas
, the only that remains is Saint John the Baptist Preaching, the others are inexplicably lost.
Both the main painting, "Ansidei Madonna", and the predella "Saint John the Baptist Preaching", are located at the National Gallery in London
.
, with an adult Saint John the Baptist
on the left, and Saint Nicholas
of Bari
to the right. Painted for effect rather than realism, the throne has no arms and the steps are very steep, but beautifully set off the arches above and the approach to the throne.
of the Umbrian School within his Florentine Period. Above the Madonna's throne is inscribed "Hail, Mother of Christ." This compares to the more natural poses and interaction found in Madonna, the Christ Child and infant John the Baptist in paintings of his Roman period.
Per Ruskin of the National Gallery
, the painting is considered one of the greatest paintings in history, and as such an embodiment of the best of Christianity
, for several reasons. First, the execution was near perfect and well-weathered the test of centuries of time. The gold within the painting looks real, but was totally painted by affect. Secondly, another test of a great painting, the characters look serene. Third, the painting attracts attention to the spirit or soul of a character, rather than their appearance. And, last, you see joy, contentment or beauty in the face of the subject, not negative connotations, such as pain or vileness.
Each subject and the landscape of "Ansidei Madonna" evokes serenity and divinity:
The three balls at Bishop Nicholas' feet may symbolize the holy trinity, or the three bags of gold he is said to have thrown into the window of a poor man's home for his daughters' welfare.
's sculptured marble, Masaccio
's frescoes, Michaelangelo's David
, Leonardo da Vinci
's paintings, and so much more which Raphael used to developed his fine-tuned sense of style, composition and execution as seen in the "Ansidei Madonna".
Raphael achieved excellence in Ansidei Madonna through execution of every minute detail. A master at the young age of twenty-three, Raphael brought new life to well-represented subjects, through careful, methodic performance. Care is represented by what one does - and what one does not do, or more clearly: "There is a saying that a true artist is known best by what he omits." Consider the landscape behind our subjects, it is clean and serene, not overdone with unnecessary detail. When color is used, its used decidedly and for effect, such as the jeweled robe, the chaplet of red coral.
In 1508 Raphael arrived in Rome at the age of twenty-five and already a great reputation as a master of the arts, known for such works as "Madonna of the Grand Duke
", "Madonna of the Goldfinch
", "Ansidei Madonna" and more.
.
Two paintings formed the predella for Raphael's altarpiece the "Ansidei Madonna." The first, "Saint John the Baptist Preaching", was placed beneath the image of Saint John in the main altarpiece, and is now owned by the National Gallery. The panels that depicted her betrothal, positioned below the Virgin and Child and another below Saint Nicholas of one of his miracles have not survived.
There is some question about the date, or dates, of the painting. Original understanding was that the painting was begun in 1505, fitting with Raphael's style at that time, strongly influenced by Perugino. Careful observation revealed that the painting was dated 1507. One can fairly reasonably assume, though, based upon the Raphael's style, that the work began in 1505 and was finished in 1507.
The chapel that held "Ansidei Madonna" was dismantled in 1763 when the church of San Fiorenzo was remodeled. The chapel was reassembled and now contains a 19th century copy of its original altarpiece, the "Ansidei Madonna", by Raphael. The work was bought by young Lord Robert Spenser in 1764, for an undisclosed, but apparently large sum of money as a gift to his brother, the 4th Duke of Marlborough. Placed in Blenheim Palace, one of the most magnificent buildings in Europe and home of the Duke of Marlborough, the work was sometimes known as the "Blenheim Madonna."
"Ansidei Madonna", considered "one of the most perfect pictures of the world", of the Blenheim
Collection was sold by George Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough
, under the Lord Cairn's Act
for ₤75,000 or nearly unanimously cited at ₤70,000, which was about $350,000, to the London National Gallery in 1885. At the time, this was three times the highest amount paid for a painting, likely in large part because there were few Raphael paintings placed in foreign galleries at that time.
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
by the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
High Renaissance
High Renaissance
The expression High Renaissance, in art history, is a periodizing convention used to denote the apogee of the visual arts in the Italian Renaissance...
artist Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
, painted during his Florentine
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
period. It shows the Blessed Virgin Mary sitting on a wooden throne, with the child Christ
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
on her lap. On her right John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
stands, on her left Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
is reading.
At the time the painting was commissioned, there were other paintings that made up the grouping for the altarpiece. Of the predellas
Predella
A predella is the platform or step on which an altar stands . In painting, the predella is the painting or sculpture along the frame at the bottom of an altarpiece...
, the only that remains is Saint John the Baptist Preaching, the others are inexplicably lost.
Both the main painting, "Ansidei Madonna", and the predella "Saint John the Baptist Preaching", are located at the National Gallery in London
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
.
The Painting
The Virgin sits formally on a high throneThrone
A throne is the official chair or seat upon which a monarch is seated on state or ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monarchy or the Crown itself, an instance of metonymy, and is also used in many expressions such as "the power behind the...
, with an adult Saint John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
on the left, and Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
of Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
to the right. Painted for effect rather than realism, the throne has no arms and the steps are very steep, but beautifully set off the arches above and the approach to the throne.
Excellence through serenity and divinity
The Ansidei Madonna was greatly influenced by the strict expression of divinityDivinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
of the Umbrian School within his Florentine Period. Above the Madonna's throne is inscribed "Hail, Mother of Christ." This compares to the more natural poses and interaction found in Madonna, the Christ Child and infant John the Baptist in paintings of his Roman period.
Per Ruskin of the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
, the painting is considered one of the greatest paintings in history, and as such an embodiment of the best of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, for several reasons. First, the execution was near perfect and well-weathered the test of centuries of time. The gold within the painting looks real, but was totally painted by affect. Secondly, another test of a great painting, the characters look serene. Third, the painting attracts attention to the spirit or soul of a character, rather than their appearance. And, last, you see joy, contentment or beauty in the face of the subject, not negative connotations, such as pain or vileness.
Each subject and the landscape of "Ansidei Madonna" evokes serenity and divinity:
- Madonna, by her complete devotion to her child,
- Christ child through his secure faith in his mother,
- St. John through his contemplative expression of his spiritual journey,
- Bishop Nicholas of Bari through spiritual knowledge, and
- the soothing landscape and the open, infinite sky, closest to GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
.
The three balls at Bishop Nicholas' feet may symbolize the holy trinity, or the three bags of gold he is said to have thrown into the window of a poor man's home for his daughters' welfare.
The young master
Raphael's years in Florence exposed him to a plethora of artistic influences, first his teacher Perugino and then others, such as DonatelloDonatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi , also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence...
's sculptured marble, Masaccio
Masaccio
Masaccio , born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was the first great painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, Masaccio was the best painter of his generation because of his skill at recreating lifelike figures and movements as well as a convincing sense...
's frescoes, Michaelangelo's David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
, Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
's paintings, and so much more which Raphael used to developed his fine-tuned sense of style, composition and execution as seen in the "Ansidei Madonna".
Raphael achieved excellence in Ansidei Madonna through execution of every minute detail. A master at the young age of twenty-three, Raphael brought new life to well-represented subjects, through careful, methodic performance. Care is represented by what one does - and what one does not do, or more clearly: "There is a saying that a true artist is known best by what he omits." Consider the landscape behind our subjects, it is clean and serene, not overdone with unnecessary detail. When color is used, its used decidedly and for effect, such as the jeweled robe, the chaplet of red coral.
In 1508 Raphael arrived in Rome at the age of twenty-five and already a great reputation as a master of the arts, known for such works as "Madonna of the Grand Duke
Madonna del Granduca
The Madonna del Granduca is a Madonna painting by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. It was probably painted in 1505, shortly after Raphael had arrived in Florence. The influence of Leonardo da Vinci, whose works he got to know there, can be seen in the use of sfumato...
", "Madonna of the Goldfinch
Madonna del cardellino
The Madonna del cardellino or Madonna of the Goldfinch is a painting by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael, from c. 1505-1506. A 10-year restoration process was completed in 2008, after which the painting was returned to its home at the Uffizi in Florence...
", "Ansidei Madonna" and more.
Isolated characters of the Umbrian school
The Virgin Mary, Saint John and Bishop Nicholas are isolated from one another, without interchange, a style common in the Umbrian school, and particularly Perugino.Commission and Provenance
Niccolò Ansidei commissioned Raphael to paint an altarpiece of a group of paintings titled "The Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Nicholas of Bari (The Ansidei Madonna)" for his family chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas in the church of San Fiorenzo, PerugiaPerugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
.
Two paintings formed the predella for Raphael's altarpiece the "Ansidei Madonna." The first, "Saint John the Baptist Preaching", was placed beneath the image of Saint John in the main altarpiece, and is now owned by the National Gallery. The panels that depicted her betrothal, positioned below the Virgin and Child and another below Saint Nicholas of one of his miracles have not survived.
There is some question about the date, or dates, of the painting. Original understanding was that the painting was begun in 1505, fitting with Raphael's style at that time, strongly influenced by Perugino. Careful observation revealed that the painting was dated 1507. One can fairly reasonably assume, though, based upon the Raphael's style, that the work began in 1505 and was finished in 1507.
The chapel that held "Ansidei Madonna" was dismantled in 1763 when the church of San Fiorenzo was remodeled. The chapel was reassembled and now contains a 19th century copy of its original altarpiece, the "Ansidei Madonna", by Raphael. The work was bought by young Lord Robert Spenser in 1764, for an undisclosed, but apparently large sum of money as a gift to his brother, the 4th Duke of Marlborough. Placed in Blenheim Palace, one of the most magnificent buildings in Europe and home of the Duke of Marlborough, the work was sometimes known as the "Blenheim Madonna."
"Ansidei Madonna", considered "one of the most perfect pictures of the world", of the Blenheim
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between...
Collection was sold by George Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough
George Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough
George Charles Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough DL , styled Earl of Sunderland until 1857 and Marquess of Blandford between 1857 and 1883, was a British peer.-Background and education:...
, under the Lord Cairn's Act
Chancery Amendment Act 1858
The Chancery Amendment Act 1858 also known as Lord Cairns' Act after Sir Hugh Cairns, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allowed the English Court of Chancery, the Irish Chancery and the Chancery Court of the County Palatine of Lancaster to award damages, in addition to their...
for ₤75,000 or nearly unanimously cited at ₤70,000, which was about $350,000, to the London National Gallery in 1885. At the time, this was three times the highest amount paid for a painting, likely in large part because there were few Raphael paintings placed in foreign galleries at that time.