Madonna and Child and the Infant John the Baptist (The Bridgewater Madonna) (after Raphael)
after Raphael (Urbino 1483 – Rome 1520)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1800 - 1899
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
745 x 600 mm
Order this imageCollection
Nymans Estate, West Sussex
NT 1206445
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Madonna and Child and the Infant John the Baptist, after Raphael (Urbino 1483 – Rome 1520), 19th century. This Madonna and Child is loosely based on the Bridgewater Madonna, in the National Gallery, Scotland, of around 1507 by Raphael which was probably made as a devotional image for a private chamber as opposed to a church. It shows a particularly graceful combination of poses with an elegant twist, called a contrapposto, of the Christ Child. The exchange of glances further emphasises the tender relationship between the mother and child. The original, without the Infant John also originally had a landscape background but it was painted out, possibly by Raphael himself, who decided a dark setting was a better enhanced the subtle modelling of his figures in light and shadow.
Provenance
Accepted in lieu of tax by HM Treasury and transferred to the National Trust, 1995
Marks and inscriptions
y (not transcribed)
Makers and roles
after Raphael (Urbino 1483 – Rome 1520), artist