Madonna, workshop of Scipione Pulzone (1544 – 1598)

Scipione Pulzone (Gaeta, 1544 – Rome, 1598) workshop of

Madonna

Oil on canvas

55 x 43 cm Framed 63 x 51 cm

This delicate yet intense portrait depicts the Virgin Mary, her head covered, looking down, most likely at the body of the baby Jesus, whom we can imagine lying on her lap or in the traditional cradle, but we also find her in a similar pose in the Virgin of the Annunciation.

From an analysis of the work, which is of excellent quality, we are inclined to attribute its authorship to an artist who was presumably active in Rome between the 16th and 17th centuries, finding a direct comparison with the works of Scipione Pulzone (Gaeta, 1544 – Rome, 1598), one of the leading exponents of late Mannerism and one of the most original interpreters of the Counter-Reformation era.

Famous for his skills as a portraitist, he was also the creator of timeless devotional images in the style of Raphael, masterfully interpreting post-Tridentine ideals, as can be seen in the refined rendering of the facial features in our canvas, still close to the Mannerist style of Florentine origin.

A direct comparison can be made with the Virgin in the Duke of Devonshire's collection at Chatsworth House, noted by Federico Zeri (image 1, Zeri Photo Library, no. 32006), but also, considering it as a smaller version of larger paintings, with the Madonna della Divina Provvidenza (Our Lady of Divine Providence) painted by Scipione for the Barnabite Fathers (image 2, Rome, San Carlo ai Catinari, chapel of the Fathers) and with the Virgin depicted in the Holy Family in the Borghese Gallery (fig. 3 inv. 313).

This iconic depiction of the Virgin Mary was hugely successful, as evidenced by the various versions by Pulzone cited in various archival sources, but also by the reproductions made by his workshop to satisfy the numerous requests from both ecclesiastical and private clients.