A POLYCHROME STUCCO RELIEF OF THE MADONNA AND CHILD

Details

A POLYCHROME STUCCO RELIEF OF THE MADONNA AND CHILD
AFTER DONATELLO, 16TH CENTURY, FLORENTINE

Within a pedimented frame, the sides flanked by pilasters, the relief depicting the Madonna gazing down at the Child, above a stepped plinth with the painted inscription 'AVE.MARIA.GRAKIA [sic] .PLENA.DON', flanked by escutcheons charged with the coats-of-arms of the Medici family -47¼in. (120½cm.) high, 29½in. (74cm.) wide, 6½in. (17m.) deep

Provenance

Stefano Bardini; American Art Galleries, New York, April 25, 1918, lot 355
William Boyce Thompson, Yonkers, New York

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
J. Pope-Hennessy, Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1964, pl. 80
E. Lusanna and L. Faedo, Il Museo Bardini a Firenze, Vol II, Le sculture Milan, 1986, pl. 221

Lot Essay

This is one of a number of variants in polychrome stucco derived from an autograph gilt terracotta original in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. It's distinctive motifs are the chair on which the Child sits, and the fact that He inserts His right hand between those of Mary, which are joined in prayer. The present example is similar to that in the Bardini Collection in the architectural tabernacle.