Madonna with the Blue Diadem
Encyclopedia
The 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
.
In the Louvre
, the painting is named Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John, also known as Virgin with the Veil or Virgin with the Blue Diadem. Additional names include Virgin with the Linen, Slumbering Child and Silence of the Holy Virgin.
. Once found, they were said to be expertly joined. There is also a different version where the panel was split into three pieces to make a screen, which was made whole again.
By the later part of the 16th century, it had been in the Chateauneuf Collection, Paris and descended to his heir, Marquis de la Vallière.
In 1620 the painting was owned by Marquis de la Vallière, Secretary of State, as part of the La Valière Collection in Paris. In 1713, Prince Louis Alexander de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse, owned the painting and from him passed in 1728 into the collection of Prince de Carignano.
From at least 1728 to 1743 is was in the possession of Victor Amadeus I, Prince of Carignan. After he died, the painting fell to his son Luigi di Carignano and painter Rigauld mediated the sale in 1742 dispersed to Louis XV in 1743.
The last Raphael painting to enter the French Royal Collection, it was acquired from the Prince of Carignano in 1742 dispersed to Louis XV in 1743.
The painting is similar to the Madonna of Loreto
(Musée Condé, Chantilly), featuring the symbolic lifting of the veil. 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.
Here the Virgin lifts the veil over the sleeping Child, who is turned toward the audience, with her other arm around the young John the Baptist, who has a reed across his shoulder. Both the Virgin and John are in profile. Attached to a blue diadem, a veil that flows down her head, across her shoulders and clings to her arms. A draped tunic, belted at the waist, flowing overtop her red underdress.
While the paintings has some similarity to the Madonna of Loreto, Raphael make a more dramatic statement, such as through the use of ruins of the Sacchetti Villa
and vineyard, near the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
There is also refinement in the features and limbs of the Christ child. The child is very calm, contrasted to the expression of awe and adoration by the young John.
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...
and his pupil Gianfrancesco Penni
Gianfrancesco Penni
Gianfrancesco Penni , also known as Giovan Francesco, was an Italian painter, student of Raphael.Born in Florence to a family of weavers, Penni entered very early in Raphael's workshop, and collaborated with him for several works, including the famous Rooms of the Vatican Palace as well as the...
, probably painted in Rome around 1512, now at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
.
In the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, the painting is named Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John, also known as Virgin with the Veil or Virgin with the Blue Diadem. Additional names include Virgin with the Linen, Slumbering Child and Silence of the Holy Virgin.
History
Legend has it that at one time the panel, split in two, was used to cover casks in PesciaPescia
Pescia is an Italian city in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy.It is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, on the banks of the homonymous river.-History:...
. Once found, they were said to be expertly joined. There is also a different version where the panel was split into three pieces to make a screen, which was made whole again.
By the later part of the 16th century, it had been in the Chateauneuf Collection, Paris and descended to his heir, Marquis de la Vallière.
In 1620 the painting was owned by Marquis de la Vallière, Secretary of State, as part of the La Valière Collection in Paris. In 1713, Prince Louis Alexander de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse, owned the painting and from him passed in 1728 into the collection of Prince de Carignano.
From at least 1728 to 1743 is was in the possession of Victor Amadeus I, Prince of Carignan. After he died, the painting fell to his son Luigi di Carignano and painter Rigauld mediated the sale in 1742 dispersed to Louis XV in 1743.
The last Raphael painting to enter the French Royal Collection, it was acquired from the Prince of Carignano in 1742 dispersed to Louis XV in 1743.
Description
Although there is question about the artist, the composition is almost certainly that of Raphael. Due to the use of bright, acid colors and the porcelain-like finish, it is thought that the painting of the composition may have been the work of one of his pupils, Giovanfrancesco Penni and to be dated around 1518.The painting is similar to the Madonna of Loreto
Madonna of Loreto (Raphael)
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....
(Musée Condé, Chantilly), featuring the symbolic lifting of the veil. 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.
Here the Virgin lifts the veil over the sleeping Child, who is turned toward the audience, with her other arm around the young John the Baptist, who has a reed across his shoulder. Both the Virgin and John are in profile. Attached to a blue diadem, a veil that flows down her head, across her shoulders and clings to her arms. A draped tunic, belted at the waist, flowing overtop her red underdress.
While the paintings has some similarity to the Madonna of Loreto, Raphael make a more dramatic statement, such as through the use of ruins of the Sacchetti Villa
Villa Pigneto del Marchese Sacchetti
The Villa Pigneto or Sacchetti, or also the Casino al Pigneto del Marchese Sacchetti is a villa in Rome, designed by the Baroque artist Pietro da Cortona. A second, plainer, Villa Sacchetti, now called Villa Chigi, is found at Castelfusano near Ostia and was decorated by Cortona...
and vineyard, near the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
There is also refinement in the features and limbs of the Christ child. The child is very calm, contrasted to the expression of awe and adoration by the young John.