Madonna of Loreto (Raphael)
Encyclopedia
The Madonna of Loreto is a painting finished around 1508-1509 by the Italian
High Renaissance
painter Raphael
. It is housed in the Musée Condé of Chantilly
, France
.
For centuries the painting kept company with the Portrait of Pope Julius II
, first at the Santa Maria del Popolo, then in private collections, and for a time their location was unknown. Their ownership, or provenance
, has been difficult to unravel because of the number of copies of both paintings, the unclear ownership chain, misinformation and delay of publication of vital information.
For instance, this painting received its name from a copy at the Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto which was at one time thought to be the original. Now is it certain that the painting at Loreto was a copy - and therefore the painting name is a misnomer.
Even so, the well-copied painting has been a beloved and critically acclaimed painting for centuries.
The use of veil in Renaissance paintings, from the Meditations on the Life of Christ, symbolizes the manner in which the Madonna wrapped the Child in the veil from her head at the Nativity and, prophetically, again at the Crucifixion.
Saint Joseph's melancholy nature in this picture may signal his proclivity for prophecy and the coming events for the Child. Saint Joseph seemed to be an after-thought, x-rays of the painting show that Saint Joseph was painted over a window previously over the Madonna's shoulder. Further, the change in the position of the Child's right foot was revealed via x-ray. These changes align with Raphael's preliminary drawings for the painting.
The Madonna's dress, frame and angle of her head are reminiscent of Justice in the Stanza della Segnatura which was painted about the same time as this painting. It is also reminiscent of the Madonna of the Blue Diadem.
of this painting is constructed based on documents, analysis of the painting and preliminary sketches. For centuries the painting was co-located with the Portrait of Pope Julius II, first at the Santa Maria del Popolo, then in private collections, and for a time their location was unknown. The original painting by Raphael is now believed to be the version at Musée Condé in Chantilly, France.
which resided at Santa Maria del Popolo, at the entrance gate to Rome. During this time the painting was also known as Madonna del Popolo or described as The Holy Family.
An array of Renaissance artists were brought in to decorate the Santa Maria del Popolo church and its chapels in Rome, beginning with Raphael. Both paintings by Raphael, Julius II and the Madonna were hung on pillars during feast days or high holy days.
The two paintings, nearly the same size, seem as if they were meant to complement each other. Nearly the same size, they also both had a strong vertical orientation. The eyes of the paintings were downcast and gave a contemplative feeling. The positioning and lighting within the paintings seems to indicate that they were meant to each flank a side of an altar in the domed chapel. Although the paintings were paired for a time through change of ownership, Julius II is now located in the National Gallery.
As a means of indicating Julius' appreciation of the Madonna, which resulted in the pairing of paintings, Julius commissioned another Madonna painting, the Sistine Madonna, in the last year of his life where his adoration is shown by the Pope kneeling at the feet of the Virgin.
There are many suppositions about the circumstances surrounding the Madonna painting after Popolo, partly because there were many copies of the painting and partly due to delays in publication of vital documents.
. In 1608, he sold the paintings to Cardinal Scipione Borghese.
(1789–1799), is believed to be the original.
In October 1979, the Musée Condé held an exhibit titled La Madona de Lorette to present and document the newly cleaned and version of the painting, which was found to be the original Raphael painting. The exhibit was held at the request of the Institut de France
, administrator of Musée Condé, and organized by the Louvre museum.
Until 1979, the painting at Musée Condé had been attributed to Gianfrancesco Penni.
The painting was determined to be the original Raphael Madonna painting for several reasons. First, the quality of the painting is extremely high, depicting an "admirable equilibrium of motives and a subtle mixture of force and grace" of "the best works of Raphael". Second, the painting revealed through X-ray screening that Saint Joseph was painted after the Virgin and child were completed, based upon preparatory design or sketches, the changed could have only have been performed by Raphael and thus rules it out as a copy.
At the Salon of 1814, Joseph Théodore Ricomme (b. 1785), a noted engraver of great paintings such as Raphael's Madonnas, received a medal for an unprecedented showing of prints, notably for the supreme quality modern engraving of Raphael's Madonna of Loreto and Adam and Eve.
Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe
's Palmetto Leaves
(1873), a memoir and travel guide of Florida
in the days following the end of the American Civil War
recounts comments from a woman named Minnah upon seeing the lithograph of Madonna of the Veil by Raphael:
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...
painter 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...
. It is housed in the Musée Condé of Chantilly
Chantilly, Oise
Chantilly is a small city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune in the department of Oise.It is in the metropolitan area of Paris 38.4 km...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
For centuries the painting kept company with the Portrait of Pope Julius II
Portrait of Pope Julius II (Raphael)
Portrait of Pope Julius II is an oil painting attributed to Italian painter Raphael. This painting of Pope Julius II, who was a popular subject for Raphael and his students, was unusual for its time and would carry a long influence on papal portraiture...
, first at the Santa Maria del Popolo, then in private collections, and for a time their location was unknown. Their ownership, or provenance
Provenance
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...
, has been difficult to unravel because of the number of copies of both paintings, the unclear ownership chain, misinformation and delay of publication of vital information.
For instance, this painting received its name from a copy at the Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto which was at one time thought to be the original. Now is it certain that the painting at Loreto was a copy - and therefore the painting name is a misnomer.
Even so, the well-copied painting has been a beloved and critically acclaimed painting for centuries.
Description
The painting is tender and intimate. The Child, just awakened, plays a game with the Madonna's veil, with a melancholy Saint Joseph looking on from the shadows.The use of veil in Renaissance paintings, from the Meditations on the Life of Christ, symbolizes the manner in which the Madonna wrapped the Child in the veil from her head at the Nativity and, prophetically, again at the Crucifixion.
Saint Joseph's melancholy nature in this picture may signal his proclivity for prophecy and the coming events for the Child. Saint Joseph seemed to be an after-thought, x-rays of the painting show that Saint Joseph was painted over a window previously over the Madonna's shoulder. Further, the change in the position of the Child's right foot was revealed via x-ray. These changes align with Raphael's preliminary drawings for the painting.
The Madonna's dress, frame and angle of her head are reminiscent of Justice in the Stanza della Segnatura which was painted about the same time as this painting. It is also reminiscent of the Madonna of the Blue Diadem.
Names
The history of the painting is difficult to track for many reasons, one of them being the various names for the painting, which tell the history, or the perceived history, of the original Raphael painting. This work is one of the most copied works of Raphael with over one hundred known copies.- During the time at Santa Maria del Popolo, it was known as the Madonna del Popolo, or described as the Holy Family.
- It is sometimes called Madonna del Velo or Madonna of the Veil but not consistently and those names has also been used for the similar painting, the Madonna with the Blue DiademMadonna with the Blue DiademThe Madonna with the Blue Diadem is a painting by Raphael and his pupil Gianfrancesco Penni, probably painted in Rome around 1512, now at the Louvre....
. - It is most frequently called Madonna of Loreto or Madonna di Loreto, but that name is erroneous because the original painting was not at Loreto.
- In Chantilly, the painting is called La Madona de Lorette, FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for the Madonna of Loreto.
Provenance
The provenanceProvenance
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...
of this painting is constructed based on documents, analysis of the painting and preliminary sketches. For centuries the painting was co-located with the Portrait of Pope Julius II, first at the Santa Maria del Popolo, then in private collections, and for a time their location was unknown. The original painting by Raphael is now believed to be the version at Musée Condé in Chantilly, France.
Santa Maria del Popolo
Julius II commissioned of Raphael the Madonna of the Veil and his likeness, the Portrait of Pope Julius IIPortrait of Pope Julius II (Raphael)
Portrait of Pope Julius II is an oil painting attributed to Italian painter Raphael. This painting of Pope Julius II, who was a popular subject for Raphael and his students, was unusual for its time and would carry a long influence on papal portraiture...
which resided at Santa Maria del Popolo, at the entrance gate to Rome. During this time the painting was also known as Madonna del Popolo or described as The Holy Family.
An array of Renaissance artists were brought in to decorate the Santa Maria del Popolo church and its chapels in Rome, beginning with Raphael. Both paintings by Raphael, Julius II and the Madonna were hung on pillars during feast days or high holy days.
The two paintings, nearly the same size, seem as if they were meant to complement each other. Nearly the same size, they also both had a strong vertical orientation. The eyes of the paintings were downcast and gave a contemplative feeling. The positioning and lighting within the paintings seems to indicate that they were meant to each flank a side of an altar in the domed chapel. Although the paintings were paired for a time through change of ownership, Julius II is now located in the National Gallery.
As a means of indicating Julius' appreciation of the Madonna, which resulted in the pairing of paintings, Julius commissioned another Madonna painting, the Sistine Madonna, in the last year of his life where his adoration is shown by the Pope kneeling at the feet of the Virgin.
There are many suppositions about the circumstances surrounding the Madonna painting after Popolo, partly because there were many copies of the painting and partly due to delays in publication of vital documents.
Cardinal Sfondrati
In 1591, Raphael's Portrait of Julius II and what was later called Madonna of Loreto were removed from the church by Paolo Camillo Sfondrati, later Cardinal Sfondrati, and nephew of Pope Gregory XIVPope Gregory XIV
Pope Gregory XIV , born Niccolò Sfondrati, was Pope from 5 December 1590 until his death in 1591.- Early career :...
. In 1608, he sold the paintings to Cardinal Scipione Borghese.
Borghese Collection
The paintings, purchased in 1608 were still recorded as part of the Borghese collection in 1693.Musée Condé at Chantilly, France
The painting now residing in Chantilly, France, thought lost since the time of the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
(1789–1799), is believed to be the original.
In October 1979, the Musée Condé held an exhibit titled La Madona de Lorette to present and document the newly cleaned and version of the painting, which was found to be the original Raphael painting. The exhibit was held at the request of the Institut de France
Institut de France
The Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française.The institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and chateaux open for visit. It also awards prizes and subsidies, which...
, administrator of Musée Condé, and organized by the Louvre museum.
Until 1979, the painting at Musée Condé had been attributed to Gianfrancesco Penni.
The painting was determined to be the original Raphael Madonna painting for several reasons. First, the quality of the painting is extremely high, depicting an "admirable equilibrium of motives and a subtle mixture of force and grace" of "the best works of Raphael". Second, the painting revealed through X-ray screening that Saint Joseph was painted after the Virgin and child were completed, based upon preparatory design or sketches, the changed could have only have been performed by Raphael and thus rules it out as a copy.
Loreto
A copy, and not the original painting, was bequeathed by Girolamo Lottorio of Rome to the sanctuary of Loreto. Further, in 1759 the painting disappeared and was replaced by copies of poor quality. With that in mind, the painting's name might be more appropriately named after it's original home in Popolo or it's resting place in Chantilly.Engraved prints or lithographs
Michaeli Grecchi Lucchese, a 16th century engraver, produced a print of the Madonna di Loreto in 1553.At the Salon of 1814, Joseph Théodore Ricomme (b. 1785), a noted engraver of great paintings such as Raphael's Madonnas, received a medal for an unprecedented showing of prints, notably for the supreme quality modern engraving of Raphael's Madonna of Loreto and Adam and Eve.
Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
's Palmetto Leaves
Palmetto Leaves
Palmetto Leaves is a memoir and travel guide written by Harriet Beecher Stowe about her winters in the town of Mandarin, Florida, published in 1873. Already famous for having written Uncle Tom's Cabin , Stowe came to Florida following the U.S. Civil War...
(1873), a memoir and travel guide of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in the days following the end of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
recounts comments from a woman named Minnah upon seeing the lithograph of Madonna of the Veil by Raphael: