Neroccio's activity as a painter centered on the production of intimate devotional images that are noteworthy for their consistently high quality. This image of the Virgin nursing evokes a poetic mood. To the left stands St. John the Baptist, dressed as a hermit in a hair shirt. On his banderole is the inscription "ECC [E AGNUS DEI]" ("This is the Lamb of God"). At right, St. Catherine of Alexandria holds a palm branch and a small spiked wheel, identifying her as a martyr. The composition is conceived like a low relief, with strong side lighting that accentuates the modeling of the figures. Although the paint on this panel has been abraded, Neroccio's refined, elegant figure style and soft, pale palette are fully developed here.
Details
- Artist Name: Neroccio de' Landi (Italian, 1447-1500)
- Title: Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria
- Date: c. 1480-85
- Medium: Tempera and gold leaf on panel
- Dimensions: comp: 29-1/2 x 24-3/8 in. (74.9 x 61.9 cm); panel: 32 x 27-1/8 in. (81.3 x 68.9 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.2011.1.1.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Josef Cremer, Dortmund, Germany (sale, Berlin, Wertheim, 29 May 1929, lot 114, as Neroccio), to;
[Duveen Brothers, New York, stock no. 29490, sold 1965 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation;
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Sixteenth Loan Exhibition of Old Masters, Italian Paintings from XIV-XVI Century
- Detroit Institute of Arts, 1933-03-08 to 1933-03-30
Painting in Renaissance Siena: 1420-1500
- New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988-12-19 to 1989-03-19
Art of Tuscany: Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
- New York, Duveen Galleries, 1963-11 to 1963-12
Masterpieces of Five Centuries, Forty-Eight Paintings and Sculptures from the Norton Simon Foundation and the Norton Simon, Inc. Museum
- Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, 1972-10-04 to 1973-11-04
All Consuming: Art and the Essence of Food
- Norton Simon Museum, 2023-04-14 to 2023-08-14
Lock, Stock and Barrel: Norton Simon's Purchase of Duveen Brothers Gallery
- Norton Simon Museum, 2014-10-24 to 2015-02-16
- Venturi, L., Italian Paintings in America, no. 309
- Baes, E.; and J. Fiev, Catalogue des Monuments d'Art Antique de Somzee, 1904, fig. 287 p. 6
- Collection Geheimrat Josef Cremer, 1914, no. 35, fig. 25
- Voss, H., Archive fur Kunstgeschichte, 1914, no. 25
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- Voss, H., Sammlung Geheimrat Josef Cremer, 1929, fig. 114 p. 150
- Brandi, C., Quattrocentisti Senesi, 1949, p. 271
- Coor, Gertrude, Neroccio de'Landi 1447-1500, 1961, no. 29, fig. 58 pp. 83, 172
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 18
- Knight, Christopher, Last Chance for Eden: Selected Art Criticisms by Christopher Knight 1979-1994, 1995, pp. 313-316
- Boskovitis, Miklos, Brown, David Alan, et al., Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century, 2003, p. 530
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. D39 p. 444
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