High on the exterior wall of a building on the via della Fogge in Verona is a relief depicting the Madonna and Child that has come to be associated with the sculptor Donatello. There exist at least twelve models taken from the original mold or sculpture, widely known as the Verona Madonna, the best of them being at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Thyssen collection in Madrid, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The Simon Madonna and Child differs somewhat from all of the extant versions, and it is the smallest as well. Thermoluminescence analysis carried out in 2013 concluded that it was fired about one-hundred and fifty years ago. The fact that its earliest known provenance goes back to the Florentine collection of the Baron Cerbone del Nero, who died in 1816, is somewhat in line with these results that confirm a later casting.
Details
- Artist Name: After Donatello (Italian)
- Title: Madonna and Child
- Date: 15th century
- Medium: Terracotta
- Dimensions: 27 x 18 in. (68.6 x 45.7 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1965.1.119.S
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
Ottavia Torrigiani (1758-1825), probably by descent to her brother;
Pietro Torrigiani (1773-1848), and probably by descent in the Torrigiani family, Florence.
Emilio Costantini, Florence;
[Duveen Bros., New York (stock no. 29947), sold 1965 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
The Expressive Body: Memory, Devotion, Desire (1400-1750)
- Norton Simon Museum, 2021-10-15 to 2022-03-07
Art of Tuscany: Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
- New York, Duveen Galleries, 1963-11 to 1963-12
Lock, Stock and Barrel: Norton Simon's Purchase of Duveen Brothers Gallery
- Norton Simon Museum, 2014-10-24 to 2015-02-16
- Galassi, Giuseppe, La scultura fiorentina del Quattrocento, p. 105
- Preston Stuart, New York Times,
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. D71 p. 447
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