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Benois Madonna

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The Benois Madonna
ArtistLeonardo da Vinci
Yearc.1478–1480
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions49.5 cm × 33 cm (19.5 in × 13 in)
LocationHermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg

TheBenois Madonna,otherwise known as theMadonna and Child with Flowers,is a painting by theItalian RenaissancemasterLeonardo da Vinciin theHermitage Museum,Saint Petersburg.One of two Madonnas begun by Leonardo in October 1478, it was completedc.1478–1480; the other was theMadonna of the Carnation,now in theAlte Pinakothek,Munich.

History

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It is likely that theBenois Madonnawas the first work painted by Leonardo independently from his masterAndrea del Verrocchio.Two of Leonardo's preliminary sketches for this work are in theBritish Museum,[1]although the painting was probablyoverpaintedby other hands.[2]The preliminary sketches and the painting itself suggest that Leonardo was concentrating on the idea of sight and perspective.[a]The child is thought to be guiding his mother's hands into his central vision.[3]

TheBenois Madonnahas proved to be one of Leonardo's most popular works. It was extensively copied by young painters, includingRaphaelin hisMadonna of the Pinksin theNational Gallery,London.

A. I. Korsakov, 1808, byOrest Kiprensky
A. A. Sapozhnikov, 1852, byVasily Tropinin

For centuries, the painting was presumed to have been lost, then found, then lost, then found, then lost. It had in fact been acquired inItalyby the Russian artillery general and art connoisseurAleksei Ivanovich Korsakov[ru](1751–1821) in the 1790s.[b][4] Upon Korsakov's death, his son sold it for the sum of 1,400 roubles to theAstrakhanfishing merchant Alexander Petrovich Sapozhnikov, who had his own art gallery; it was then passed on to his wealthy philanthropist son Alexander Alexendrovich Sapozhnikov (1827–1887). Finally, when his daughter Maria Sapozhnikova (1858–1938) married the architectLeon Benois(1856–1928), the painting became part of the inheritance of the Benois family.

In 1909, the painting was sensationally exhibited inSaint Petersburgas part of the Benois collection. In 1912, the Benois family considered selling the painting and requested an appraisal from the London art dealerJoseph Duveen,who gave an evaluation of 500,000 francs. The art historianBernard Berensonmade disparaging comments about the painting, raising doubts about its authenticity:[5]

One unhappy day I was called to see the 'Benois Madonna'. I found myself confronted by a young woman with a bald forehead and puffed cheeks, a toothless smile, blear eyes, and a furrowed throat. The uncanny, anile apparition plays with a child who looks like a hollow mask fixed on inflated body and limbs. The hands are wretched, the folds purposeless and fussy, the color like whey. And yet I had to acknowledge that this painful affair was the work of Leonardo da Vinci. It was hard, but the effort freed me, and the indignation I felt gave me the resolution to proclaim my freedom.

Despite these wrangles about attribution, however, theBenois Madonnawas eventually sold to the ImperialHermitage Museumin 1914 for arecord amount.[6]The purchase was made byErnst Friedrich von Liphart,[c]then curator of paintings at the Hermitage, who identified da Vinci as the artist. The payments were made in installments, continuing even after the 1917October Revolution.[7][8]

Since 1914 the painting has been exhibited in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.

Description and interpretation

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Leonardo da Vinci,Optical studies for the Virgin and Child (c.1478–1480),British Museum

This small painting shows a dark room with theVirginseated on a bench with herChildoutstretched on her lap. Her young rounded face is lively; she is clothed in an olive and brown raiment, with brown and blue underwear covering her knees. The amply proportioned Christ Child grasps a cruciform sprig of flowers which the Virgin is holding. The faces of the vividly coloured figures are crowned with delicately gilded haloes. In an otherwise dark interior, a double-arched aperture gives a glimpse on to pale blue skies.[4]

In Renaissance Florence, artistic portrayals of theMadonnaoften used Christian symbolism to suggest foreknowledge of theCrucifixion— for example, thegoldfinchpluckingChrist’s thornsfrom his crown. For theBenois Madonna,the symbol is a flowering sprig, in the form of acrucifix,held by the Virgin. AsFeinberg (2011)suggests, in theBenois MadonnaLeonardo attempted to rationalize between the mysteries of 'sight' and 'insight': "The child of theBenois Madonnahas still not responded to the distinctly cruciform shape of the flower [...] because he cannot see it clearly. Once that happens, the child's hazy curiosity could [...] lead to foresight of his sacrifice ". Notwithstanding its solemn motif, the painting represents one of the" most joyous and youthful depiction of Mary in Renaissance art... she seems to be speaking or laughing, playfully engaged with her child, her radiant vitality accentuated through Leonardo’s deliberate complications of posture and drapery ".[3][9][10]

  • Study for the Madonna of the Cat, British Museum (verso)
    Study for the Madonna of the Cat,British Museum (verso)
  • Study for the Madonna of the Cat, British Museum (recto)
    Study for the Madonna of the Cat, British Museum (recto)
  • Study for Child with Cat, British Museum
    Study for Child with Cat, British Museum
  • Study for Child with Cat, British Museum
    Study for Child with Cat, British Museum

See also

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References

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Footnotes

  1. ^At that time it was thought that alien eyesemitted rays to cause visionwith a central beam being the most important.
  2. ^Descending from a medieval noble family inNovgorod,Korsakov was an artillery general and senator underPaul IandAlexander I.Elected in 1794 as an Honorary Member of theRussian Academy of Artsfor "knowledge, love and respect of honourable arts", his later years in Saint Peterburg were devoted to collecting rareobjets d'art,sculptures and paintings.
  3. ^Liphart's father, BaronKarl Eduard von Liphartfrom Estonia, was an expert on art history. He accompanied his son in the 1860s during their travels to Florence. He disinherited his son in 1873 following his conversion to Catholicism and his subsequent marriage to a Florentine lady.

Citations

  1. ^A. E. Popham and P. Pouncey, 'Italian drawings in the BM, the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries', London, 1950, I, no. 100, II, pls. XCIV, XCV[1]
  2. ^Wallace, Robert (1966).The World of Leonardo: 1452–1519.New York: Time-Life Books. p. 185.
  3. ^abFeinberg, Larry J. (29 August 2011)."TheBenois Madonnaand Continued Meditations on the Theme of Sight".The young Leonardo: art and life in fifteenth-century Florence.New York:Cambridge University Press.pp. 83–86.ISBN978-1107002395.(subscription required)
  4. ^abPalmer, Allison Lee (2019).Leonardo da Vinci: A Reference Guide to His Life and Works.Rowman & Littlefield.pp. 21–22.ISBN9781538119778.
  5. ^Samuels, Ernest;Samuels, Jayne Newcomer (1987).Bernard Berenson, the making of a legend.Belknap Press. p. 216.ISBN0674067797.
  6. ^McWhirter, Norris; McWhirter, Ross (1972).Guinness Book of World Records.Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. p. 177.ISBN0-8069-0004-0.RetrievedMarch 5,2024– viaInternet Archive.
  7. ^Directors of the Imperial HermitageArchivedFebruary 27, 2014, at theWayback Machine,Hermitage Museum, retrieved 3 January 2014
  8. ^Baron Ernst Friedrich von LiphartArchived2013-12-30 atarchive.today,RusArtNet, retrieved 31 December 2013
  9. ^Feinberg, Larry J. (2011a)."TheMadonna of the Cat ".The young Leonardo: art and life in fifteenth-century Florence.New York:Cambridge University Press.pp. 89–97.ISBN978-1107002395.
  10. ^Clark, Kenneth(1988).Leonardo da Vinci: An Account of his development as an Artist.Pelican (Revised ed.).Penguin Books.pp. 30–33.ISBN978-0-141-98237-3.
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