The Madonna and Child with White Rabbit (La zingarella) (after Correggio)
attributed to George Augustus Wallis (Merton 1770 - Florence 1847)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1826
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
460 x 370 mm
Place of origin
Bologna
Order this imageCollection
Lacock, Wiltshire
NT 996492
Caption
This is a copy Correggio’s picture in the Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy. The title derives from the Madonna’s dress – that of a gypsy girl (Zingarella). The infant in her lap derives from the tradition iconography of the Madonna of Humilty. The presence of the rabbit is explained by the misconception in antiquity that the rabbit could reproduce without sexual intercourse. It is therefore an allusion to the Madonna’s virginity and the Immaculate Conception.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, The Madonna and Child with White Rabbit (La zingarella), by George Augustus Wallis c1826, after Correggio (Correggio c.1489 – Correggio 1534). The original 'Gypsy Madonna' is in the Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples and this is a copy before its restoration in 1934. The Virgin is in repose without the presence of her husband Joseph. Other copies are at National Trust houses at Stourhead, NT 732360 and Belton, NT 436110 and an early copy from the Archibald McLellan collection is in Glasgow Museums (126), bought in 1856. Purchased by William Henry Fox Talbot in Bologna in 1826 (WHFT Correspondence doc no. 1445).
Provenance
Bought by private treaty from Petronella Dittmer, Mrs Burnett-Brown, 2009
Credit line
Lacock Abbey (National Trust)
Makers and roles
attributed to George Augustus Wallis (Merton 1770 - Florence 1847), artist after Correggio (Correggio c.1489 – Correggio 1534), artist
References
Gould 1976 Cecil Gould, The Paintings of Correggio, Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 1976, p. 230 Ekserdjian 1997 David Ekserdjian, Correggio, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1997, p. 61 Humfrey 2012 Peter Humfrey, The Italian Paintings, Glasgow Museums, 2012, no. 36