Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and Margaret with Angels; di Cosimo (c. 1515 - 1520)

The display reads:

 

Piero di Cosimo

Italian, Florentine, c. 1462 - 1521

 

Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and

Margaret with Angels, c. 1515 - 1520

 

Oil and tempera on panel

 

Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation

1963.17

 

Piero di Cosimo was born to a goldsmith named Lorenzo, who immediately noticed his son's artistic talents. Sent to study in 1480 with Cosimo Rosselli, Piero eventually adopted the name of Cosimo over Lorenzo. He assisted his teacher with the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Piero's reported eccentricities may be reflected to a degree in his highly personal compositions.

 

While this tondo's ascription to Piero had been doubted in the past, this impressive painting is certainly a late work of his datable from 1515 to 1520. Although, unfortunately, the Virgin's face has been severely abraded, the delicately painted passages such as the rustic landscape with Saint Martin and the beggar in the right background or the faces and costumes of the angels prove the greater part of the picture to be in good condition. The interesting and complex treatment of subject matter in this private devotional work is at the same time intimate and poignant. John the Baptist hands the sacrificial lamd to the baby Christ, and there is a blasted tree around which one can still see wrapped the crown of thorns, placed next to the Baptist's cross shaped staff. The artist's combination of childlike playfulness in combination with the foreshadowing of Christ's Passion is extremely effective.

 

Taken November 26th, 2011.

Done