The subject of this work is an unusual presentation of reciprocal adoration. The kneeling Christ Child is enwrapped in the folds of the Virgin’s mantle. He looks up at her in prayer, as she gazes down on him in the same gesture.

The composition is a striking example of this artist’s ability to create highly evocative poses and interaction among sculptural figures. The dynamic relationship between the mother and child is conveyed through their bodies which lean into each other, while also opening up to the viewer in an almost impossibly balanced arrangement.

The interaction between the Virgin and Christ Child not only has religious meaning, but also provides a model for harmonious family life. The early 15th-century Florentine theologian Fra Giovanni Dominici recommended that images of the Virgin and Child be placed in children’s rooms to provide examples of proper behavior.

The acquisition of the Civitali was hard-won by Isabella Gardner, who competed with Wilhelm Bode, director of the Berlin museums, to acquire it. She purchased it with the help of her friend, the artist Joseph Lindon Smith.

Between 2007 and 2010, Gardner conservators undertook detailed study and conservation of three of the Gardner’s terracotta sculptures: Virgin Adoring the Child, Matteo Civitali, ca. 1480; Bust of St. John the Baptist, Benedetto da Maiano, ca. 1480; and Entombment of Christ, Giovanni Minelli (recently reattributed to Giovanni de Fondulis), ca. 1483-87, in addition to thirteen 19th-century paintings in the Gardner Museum’s collection. Funded by the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, this work focused on the analysis of paint and elemental constituents of the terracotta as well as treatment, which provided new insights into the sculptures’ composition and condition. For example, research revealed that the works by Civitali and de Fondulis preserve much of their original 15th-century paint, while Benedetto da Maiano’s Bust of St. John the Baptist has been over-painted several times—including once with a thick layer of black paint mixed with a combination of ground copper and brass metal leaf that was applied to make it appear as though the bust was made of bronze. Analysis also revealed new information about the method of modeling the figures, which were all done by hand as indicated by the visible took marks, the selective massing of the clay, the hollowed out walls with uniform thickness, and the individual expressiveness of the figures. Methods of evaluation focused on X-radiography, paint cross-sections, Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Raman spectroscopy, thermoluminescence, and other methods of evaluation conducted by the Gardner Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. These new discoveries contributed to the 2010 exhibition, Modeling Devotion: Terracotta Sculptures of the Italian Renaissance, which highlighted the highly emotive and expressive qualities of these artworks, their technique and condition, and even fakes and forgeries created in the late 19th century to fuel a growing market.

In addition to in-depth technical analysis, treatment, and photographic documentation of the Civitali, conservators conducted a research trip to Florence and Lucca, Italy to consult with colleagues and compare numerous other sculptures by Civitali. One of the most interesting discoveries about this sculpture was, with the exception of its skin tones, the existing paint appears to be original. Another discovery was that the decorative gilded ornaments on the Virgin’s red robe were created by snipping out the sharp-edged designs from a gold-leafed sheet of tin, which was then adhered directly to the painted surface. Although the majority of the paint is original, much of it was unstable and flaking. The paint was carefully consolidated with two different adhesives that were flowed under the flaking paint with tiny brushes. The paint surface was also quite dirty and required a complex cleaning system using different solvents to reduce dirt and waxy materials found on the surface. The level of aesthetic compensation was informed by consultation with the curator, scholars of Italian sculpture, and by the examination of other Civitali sculptures studied in Italy during the research trip. Areas of paint loss exposing bare terracotta were isolated with a reversible resin and then in-painted to blend with adjacent surfaces.

Purchased from Attilio Simonetti, Rome, 1902, through Joseph Lindon Smith