Sandro Botticelli (Florence, 1444 or 1445 - 1510, Florence)
Virgin and Child with an Angel, 1470-1474
Tempera on panel, 85 x 64.5 cm (33 7/16 x 25 3/8 in.)
The vertical scene in Virgin and Child with an Angel painted in tempera on a rectangular panel focuses on three light-skinned figures: Mary the Mother of Christ, filling much of the right side of the painting; the baby Christ Child being held in Mary’s left arm, but facing away from her, toward our left; and an angel in the guise of an androgynous person standing on the left, facing right toward the Mother and Child and offering a basket of grapes with spears of wheat fanning out around the grapes. The three figures are grouped in front of a simple parapet through which a winding river and rolling hills can be glimpsed in the background. Even in her sitting position, facing three-fourths to the front, and shown from her knees upward, Mary is the largest, most dominant figure. Her radiant blue robe is open in the front, edged with very delicate gold lace-like edging, with the brown lining visible around the collar and wrists. She wears a closely gathered, high-bodiced, red undergarment with a rounded neckline. Her straw-colored hair is drawn up and back in a rounded loose coil, and a transparent white-toned veil covers her hair, face and shoulders. Her facial features are delicate, her lips closed, her fair eyebrows and lashes barely visible, her downward glance suggests she is in deep thought as her right hand fingers a sprig of wheat offered by the angle. As with all three figures a barely visible gold halo floats above her head. The chubby Christ Child rests in a sitting position against his left mother’s arm, his right hand raised with all five fingers separated and detailed, and his left hand, closed, resting against his mother’s left hand. His right shoulder, arm, and middle torso are covered by a loosely draped, light blue fabric leaving his bare legs, feet and right hand to move freely. His fair skin and hair, pudgy cheeks and body render his baby-like appearance. The cherubic angel standing on the left, visible from head to thigh, is dressed in a finely-draped chiffon-like fabric with gentle folds forming the bodice, and puffed capped sleeves giving way to slim fitted arms. A delicate blue and gold pointed collar fits closely at the neck. The angel’s slightly parted face seems serene, and is encircled by tight reddish-blond ringlets and a garland of dark leaves. The angel’s downward gaze seems to fix on the basket of red grapes and wheat held in their right hand.
Long Gallery
Commentary
A vast number of paintings of the Virgin and Child were produced in Florence in the late 1400s to meet a new demand for devotional images on a domestic scale. Early in his career, Botticelli specialized in such works. While this painting possesses much of the calm prettiness expected from these Madonnas, it also contains unexpected elements of allegory. The angel, Virgin, and Christ Child all look down at a bowl of grapes studded with ears of grain. Grapes and wheat produce the wine and bread of the Eucharist, and allude to the blood and body of Christ’s sacrifice. The Virgin carefully selects some of the wheat, to signify that she accepts her child’s fate. The angled arcade adds further mystery: like a set of isolated doorways, the structure encloses the figures while it simultaneously frames the landscape beyond.
In 1899, Isabella Stewart Gardner discovered that the Prince Chigi in Rome was willing to sell his painting by Botticelli, so she cabled Bernard Berenson to ask if it was worth $30,000. He replied emphatically that it was not, but she was not discouraged. A few months later, the price had risen to $70,000 and Berenson was recommending its purchase! The acquisition stirred great controversy because the press believed that the painting had been illegally exported from Italy; the Prince Chigi was fined, but later cleared of impropriety. Popular interest on both sides of the Atlantic became so great that it was decided to exhibit the painting in London at Colnaghi before it was shipped to Boston.
Source: Alan Chong, "Virgin and Child with an Angel," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 58.
In 1899, Isabella Stewart Gardner discovered that the Prince Chigi in Rome was willing to sell his painting by Botticelli, so she cabled Bernard Berenson to ask if it was worth $30,000. He replied emphatically that it was not, but she was not discouraged. A few months later, the price had risen to $70,000 and Berenson was recommending its purchase! The acquisition stirred great controversy because the press believed that the painting had been illegally exported from Italy; the Prince Chigi was fined, but later cleared of impropriety. Popular interest on both sides of the Atlantic became so great that it was decided to exhibit the painting in London at Colnaghi before it was shipped to Boston.
Source: Alan Chong, "Virgin and Child with an Angel," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 58.