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Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child
Lavinia Fontana (Italian (Bolognese), 1552–1614)
about 1605–10
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
15.2 x 25.4 cm (6 x 10 in.)
Credit Line
Beth Munroe Fund—Bequest of Emma F. Munroe
Accession Number1986.514
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Lavinia Fontana was one of the few women to succeed as an artist in the seventeenth century. In this painting she uses jewel-like colors and delicate handling of paint to portray the joys and sorrows of motherhood, which she would have known well. Fontana was the mother of eleven children, not all of whom survived infancy. In a foreshadowing of Christ's death, the bed suggests a sarcophagus, and the infant's body is limp in sleep as it might be in death. The unusual shape of the panel may indicate that it was intended as an insert for a decorative niche, perhaps on an infant's cradle.
ProvenanceProbably Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton (b. 1767 - d. 1852), Hamilton Palace [see note 1]; by descent through the Dukes of Hamilton to William, 12th Duke of Hamilton (b. 1845 - d. 1895), Hamilton Palace; July 1, 1882, Duke of Hamilton sale (7th Day), Christie, Manson and Woods, lot 739, sold for £241 to James Knowles (b. 1831 - d. 1908), London [see note 2]; May 27-29, 1908, posthumous Knowles sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, lot 437, to Colnaghi, London, but probably bought in or bought back by the family [see note 3]; by 1912, Knowles's son-in-law, William Wray Skilbeck (b. 1864 - d. 1919), London [see note 4]; to his daughter, Eirene Skilbeck (b. 1902 - d. 1969), London; 1969, to her cousin and executor, Cuthbert Skilbeck (b. 1908 - d. 1996), London; April 10, 1970, Cuthbert Skilbeck and others sale, Christie's, London, lot 91, sold for £5250 to Perman [see note 5]. April 23, 1982, anonymous ("property of a gentleman") sale, Christie's, London, lot 73. Between 1982 and 1986, offered by French and Company, New York. June 5, 1986, anonymous sale, Sotheby's, New York, lot 9, to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 22, 1986)
NOTES:
[1] When the painting was sold by Christie's in 1982, it was said to have belonged to "William Beckford, Fonthill, as Parmigianino." Portions of his collection passed by descent to his son-in-law, the Duke of Hamilton. No earlier published reference lists Fonthill Abbey in the provenance, however, including the Hamilton Palace sale of 1882, where it was attributed to Parmigianino.
[2] Knowles lent this painting, attributed to Parmigianino, to the Winter Exhibition (Royal Academy, London, 1886), cat. no. 180; Early Italian Art (The New Gallery, London, 1894), cat. no. 257; and A Collection of Pictures, Drawings, Bronzes, and Decorative Furniture (Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1902), cat. no. 48.
[3] Art Prices Current (1908) records the buyer as Colnaghi and the price as £44.28; however, the painting belonged to Knowles's son-in-law by 1912.
[4] Skilbeck lent the painting, attributed to Parmigianino, to the Winter Exhibition (Royal Academy, London, 1912), cat. no. 35.
[5] Attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola in the Christie's auctions of 1970, 1982, and the Sotheby's auction of 1986.
NOTES:
[1] When the painting was sold by Christie's in 1982, it was said to have belonged to "William Beckford, Fonthill, as Parmigianino." Portions of his collection passed by descent to his son-in-law, the Duke of Hamilton. No earlier published reference lists Fonthill Abbey in the provenance, however, including the Hamilton Palace sale of 1882, where it was attributed to Parmigianino.
[2] Knowles lent this painting, attributed to Parmigianino, to the Winter Exhibition (Royal Academy, London, 1886), cat. no. 180; Early Italian Art (The New Gallery, London, 1894), cat. no. 257; and A Collection of Pictures, Drawings, Bronzes, and Decorative Furniture (Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1902), cat. no. 48.
[3] Art Prices Current (1908) records the buyer as Colnaghi and the price as £44.28; however, the painting belonged to Knowles's son-in-law by 1912.
[4] Skilbeck lent the painting, attributed to Parmigianino, to the Winter Exhibition (Royal Academy, London, 1912), cat. no. 35.
[5] Attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola in the Christie's auctions of 1970, 1982, and the Sotheby's auction of 1986.