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Lot Essay
A sense of gravitas and emotional restraint pervades this tender representation of the Madonna and Sleeping Child. Sassoferrato portrays the Madonna in the form of Mater amabilis; she gently cradles her infant son and rests her cheek against the crown of his head. Eyes closed and nestled in his mother’s lap, the limp body of the sleeping Christ prefigures his impending death and the Pietà. Quiet sorrow registers on the Madonna’s face and is echoed in the delicately detailed facial features of the putti bordering the canvas. The tenderness of the scene is heightened by the subtle chiaroscuro and restrained colour scheme, the Madonna’s traditional colours of red and blue rendered chalky and in consonance with the warm yellow background.
The Madonna with the Sleeping Child is among the most celebrated images of Sassoferrato’s oeuvre and takes inspiration from the homonymous picture by Guido Reni, which is known from two engravings, one attributed to Reni himself (G.G. Bertelà, Incisioni bolognesi ed emiliani del sec. XVII, Bologna, 1973, no. 846). The marked success of the composition precipitated the production of numerous variants; while versions in the Galleria Nazionale, Urbino and in the Fondation Calvet, Avignon remain close to Reni’s original, many differ in their horizontal format and in the addition of cherubs, which Salvi began to add presumably in order to refine the composition but also to profit from the higher price that he could charge for a larger canvas. In most cases, two angels were added, as in the version in the Galleria Brignale Sale, Genova, the number rising to seven at both the Pinacoteca Malaspina, Pavia and the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan; the present picture is unusual in its oval format and in inclusion of five cherubs.
The Madonna with the Sleeping Child is among the most celebrated images of Sassoferrato’s oeuvre and takes inspiration from the homonymous picture by Guido Reni, which is known from two engravings, one attributed to Reni himself (G.G. Bertelà, Incisioni bolognesi ed emiliani del sec. XVII, Bologna, 1973, no. 846). The marked success of the composition precipitated the production of numerous variants; while versions in the Galleria Nazionale, Urbino and in the Fondation Calvet, Avignon remain close to Reni’s original, many differ in their horizontal format and in the addition of cherubs, which Salvi began to add presumably in order to refine the composition but also to profit from the higher price that he could charge for a larger canvas. In most cases, two angels were added, as in the version in the Galleria Brignale Sale, Genova, the number rising to seven at both the Pinacoteca Malaspina, Pavia and the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan; the present picture is unusual in its oval format and in inclusion of five cherubs.