The Virgin showing the Christ Child the Cross
attributed to Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari (Rome 1654 – Rome 1727)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1670 - 1730
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
740 x 635 mm
Place of origin
Italy
Order this imageCollection
Calke Abbey, Derbyshire
NT 290213
Caption
This picture is by some pupil of Maratta’s, such as Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari. This kind of symbolic, yet sentimental, devotional image was painted with more than half an eye on potential collectors. The infant Christ is shown in his mother’s arms, as she gestures towards an apparition of the cross on which he shall later die. This type of half-length Madonna with Child is the kind of image frequently produced by Trevisani, but neither types, drapery, nor handling are quite like his style, and seem closer to someone working in the style of Chiari.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Virgin showing the Christ Child the Cross, attributed to Guiseppe Bartolomeo Chiari (Rome 1654 – Rome 1727). The Virgin with mauve headress and blue robes holds the baby on her lap, with one hand she points upwards to where there is a cross in the sky.
Provenance
Calke Abbey was given to the National Trust by Henry Harpur Crewe (1921-1991) and the contents, including this painting, were acquired with the aid of a grant from the National Heritage Fund, thanks to a special allocation of money from the Government, in 1984
Credit line
Calke Abbey, The Harpur Crewe Collection (acquired with the help of the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund)
Makers and roles
attributed to Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari (Rome 1654 – Rome 1727), publisher previously catalogued as attributed to Carlo Maratta (Camerano 1625 – Rome 1713), publisher previously catalogued as attributed to Francesco Trevisani (Slovenia 1656 – Rome 1746), publisher