500 piece puzzle, "Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist" by Sandro Botticelli, Eaton Press, USA.
I am returning from probably my longest break on Flickr. I have had an incredibly busy schedule since July, have been out of town a good deal, and puzzles have had to take a back seat. But during the fall I was able to do a few smaller ones, including this gem from Eaton Press.
Eaton Press, and this painting, are both of local interest for me. As I've mentioned before, Eaton was a manufacturer from about 1970 - 1988 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which is the county seat where I live. And the painting is part of the collection at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts (aka Billsville).
Even though I've visited "the Clark" (as it's called informally) numerous times, I don't recall seeing this painting, but on the other hand, their collection is mostly 19th century with only a smattering of Renaissance works, so I never focus much on the "old stuff." I didn't even realize that they had a Botticelli, and I will hopefully be able to stop in and see the original; when I do, I'll post a photo and link it here.
One thing I liked a lot about this particular puzzle is that the box is disc shaped, like the early Springbok puzzles. This is unusual for circular Eaton puzzles, which typically come in a square box. The box is dated 1971; no. Z-227. The puzzle has exactly 503 pieces and I did not time myself when assembling it, but it was pretty easy.
The back of the box contains the following:
Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist
By Studio of Sandro Botticelli, 15th Century
Sandro Botticelli was a prolific artist with a large studio of assistants who, having been trained in the style of the Master, helped him carry out numerous commissions for his Florentine patrons. These patrons consisted, in large part, of the members of a growing commercial class. It was under the sponsorship of the Medici family, the most conspicuous of this class in fifteenth-century Florence, that Botticelli executed some of his most ambitious works. The Medici and many others commissioned works of art to be placed in local churches, a custom of several centuries' standing, but they also had large town and country houses to decorate. To do so they ordered portraits of family members, and paintings illustrating subjects both secular and sacred.
Images of the Virgin and Child often adorned the walls of private devotional chapels in these palaces. In Florentine renderings of the subject the infant Saint John Baptist, Patron Saint of Florence, was also commonly included. During the last two decades of the fifteenth century Botticelli and his studio painted many versions of this subject, quite a few of which were on circular panels. The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist, painted about 1490, which hangs in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, is a typical example.
- Fiona Morgan, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
500 piece puzzle, "Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist" by Sandro Botticelli, Eaton Press, USA.
I am returning from probably my longest break on Flickr. I have had an incredibly busy schedule since July, have been out of town a good deal, and puzzles have had to take a back seat. But during the fall I was able to do a few smaller ones, including this gem from Eaton Press.
Eaton Press, and this painting, are both of local interest for me. As I've mentioned before, Eaton was a manufacturer from about 1970 - 1988 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which is the county seat where I live. And the painting is part of the collection at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts (aka Billsville).
Even though I've visited "the Clark" (as it's called informally) numerous times, I don't recall seeing this painting, but on the other hand, their collection is mostly 19th century with only a smattering of Renaissance works, so I never focus much on the "old stuff." I didn't even realize that they had a Botticelli, and I will hopefully be able to stop in and see the original; when I do, I'll post a photo and link it here.
One thing I liked a lot about this particular puzzle is that the box is disc shaped, like the early Springbok puzzles. This is unusual for circular Eaton puzzles, which typically come in a square box. The box is dated 1971; no. Z-227. The puzzle has exactly 503 pieces and I did not time myself when assembling it, but it was pretty easy.
The back of the box contains the following:
Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist
By Studio of Sandro Botticelli, 15th Century
Sandro Botticelli was a prolific artist with a large studio of assistants who, having been trained in the style of the Master, helped him carry out numerous commissions for his Florentine patrons. These patrons consisted, in large part, of the members of a growing commercial class. It was under the sponsorship of the Medici family, the most conspicuous of this class in fifteenth-century Florence, that Botticelli executed some of his most ambitious works. The Medici and many others commissioned works of art to be placed in local churches, a custom of several centuries' standing, but they also had large town and country houses to decorate. To do so they ordered portraits of family members, and paintings illustrating subjects both secular and sacred.
Images of the Virgin and Child often adorned the walls of private devotional chapels in these palaces. In Florentine renderings of the subject the infant Saint John Baptist, Patron Saint of Florence, was also commonly included. During the last two decades of the fifteenth century Botticelli and his studio painted many versions of this subject, quite a few of which were on circular panels. The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist, painted about 1490, which hangs in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, is a typical example.
- Fiona Morgan, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute