Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist

Only two securely autograph works are known by the painter who came to Venice from Lanciano in Abruzzo. Both are in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice: the large-scale Descent of the Holy Spirit of 1545 and the Madonna with Two Saints and a Dominican Donor. His name appears in several documents, and seventeenth-century Venetian authors mention works by him that have not survived. He chiefly adopted the style of Titian’s middle period, although the influence of Bonifazio Veronese and Pordenone is also noted in the literature. A considerable number of paintings have traditionally been attributed to him; Berenson compiled a long list of works presumably by his hand. Yet Federico Zeri’s remark should certainly be borne in mind: “Polidoro’s artistic personality has not yet been clearly defined, and his works are often confused with those of other followers of Titian, such as Francesco and Orazio Vecellio.” The small Esztergom painting, rich in painterly freshness, was already attributed to Polidoro da Lanciano by Gerevich in 1928. The lively movement of the figures, arranged in a steep diagonal composition, is motivated by an action of mystical significance: Mary restrains her Child, who wishes to climb down from his mother’s lap in order to play with the lamb, the animal symbolizing Christ’s sacrifice and redemption from sin. Vilmos Tátrai, 1993.

Provenance

Simor collection. Purchased from the Bertinelli estate in Rome in 1878.

Restauration

1916 Endrődy Sebestyén
1984 Laurentzy Mária

Bibliography

• Sallay Dóra: Raffaele Bertinelli és reneszánsz képtára. Egy műgyűjtemény útja Rómától Esztergomig. Esztergom, 2009. kat. sz. LI.
• Mancini 2001, 131–32, 24. kat. sz. (ua., 1535 k.).
• Tátrai Vilmos, in Keresztény Múzeum 1993, 245, 136. sz. (ua.)
• Wethey 1976, 199 (ua.)
• Boskovits Mojzer–Mucsi 1964, 88, 90, korábbi irodalommal (ua.)
• Berenson 1957, I, 142 (ua.)
• Gerevich szerk. 1948, 91 (ua.)
• Berenson 1936, 398 (ua.)
• Berenson 1932, 463 (ua.)
• Berti Toesca 1932, 957 (ua.)
• Gerevich 1928, 238 (Polidoro)
• Maszlaghy 1878 és 1891, 64. sz. (Tiziano)