A POLYCHROME STUCCO RELIEF OF THE MADONNA AND CHILD

Details
A POLYCHROME STUCCO RELIEF OF THE MADONNA AND CHILD
AFTER ANTONIO ROSSELLINO, FLORENTINE, LATE 15TH EARLY 16TH CENTURY

The Madonna shown in half-length seated and facing to the right, with the Christ Child sitting on a cushion on her knees and clasping a bird in his hands, within a later pedimented giltwood and blue painted frame, losses to polychrome
45in. (114.5cm.) high

Lot Essay

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
J. Pope-Hennessy, Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1964, I, pp. 132-3, fig. 127


Of the version in London, Pope-Hennessy writes, "The composition seems to have enjoyed unusual popularity in the fifteenth century and is recorded in versions in terracotta..., in cartapesta..., and in stucco." He continues, "...the present composition...in all probability derives from a lost marble relief by this artist (Antonio Rossellino)." Rossellino (1427-79) was the most famous carver of marble and inventor of Madonna reliefs like this in the middle of the Quattrocento in Florence.