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Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels
Neri di Bicci (Italian (Florentine), about 1418–1492)
about 1445
Medium/Technique
Tempera on panel
Dimensions
Overall (unframed): 154.6 x 88.9 cm (60 7/8 x 35 in.)
Other (framed): 155.9 x 93.7 cm (61 3/8 x 36 7/8 in.)
Other (framed): 155.9 x 93.7 cm (61 3/8 x 36 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Charles Potter Kling Fund
Accession Number1983.300
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
The enthroned Virgin Mary offers a pomegranate, symbol of the Resurrection, to the infant Christ, as four cherubs look on. Their partially hidden bodies emphasize the depth and scale of the throne. Neri di Bicci’s style often exhibits a mixture of up-to-date elements, such as the heavy classical architecture and the beautifully rendered shadows in the scallop-shell niche, and more conservative aspects, such as the gold background. This painting was originally the central part of an altarpiece in the prestigious church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence. The Virgin’s blue mantle, created with the expensive pigment lapis lazuli, retains its brilliant blue.
ProvenanceAbout 1445 until at least 1689, Chapel of St. James (Villani Chapel), Santissima Annunziata, Florence (original commission) [see note 1]. Private collection, France [see note 2]. 1974, art market, Bergamo, Italy [see note 3]. Private collection, London. 1978, acquired by P. & D. Colnaghi, London; from Colnaghi, London to Colnaghi, New York; 1983, sold by Colnaghi, New York, to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 15, 1983)
NOTES:
[1] This was the central panel of an altarpiece commissioned by Jacopo Villani for the Chapel of St. James at SS Annunziata, of which the wings are at the Accademia, Florence, and the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College. The altarpiece was still in situ in 1689, when the chapel was restored. When the altarpiece was removed from the church is not known. [2] Federico Zeri, "Neri di Bicci: Reintegrazione di un dipinto già nella SS. Annunziata di Firenze," Antologia di Belle Arti 4, nos. 15-16 (1980), p. 131, published as having been in an old French collection for many years (where it was attributed to Gerolamo di Giovanni da Camerino), a private London collection, and then with Colnaghi. [3] University of Bologna, Fondazione Federico Zeri, photo archive catalogue online, no. 12810.
NOTES:
[1] This was the central panel of an altarpiece commissioned by Jacopo Villani for the Chapel of St. James at SS Annunziata, of which the wings are at the Accademia, Florence, and the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College. The altarpiece was still in situ in 1689, when the chapel was restored. When the altarpiece was removed from the church is not known. [2] Federico Zeri, "Neri di Bicci: Reintegrazione di un dipinto già nella SS. Annunziata di Firenze," Antologia di Belle Arti 4, nos. 15-16 (1980), p. 131, published as having been in an old French collection for many years (where it was attributed to Gerolamo di Giovanni da Camerino), a private London collection, and then with Colnaghi. [3] University of Bologna, Fondazione Federico Zeri, photo archive catalogue online, no. 12810.