Physical description
Arched relief in grey carved sandstone relief depicting the Virgin and Child. The Virgin, bareheaded, is seen half-length behind a parapet on which the Child is seated to her right, turning his head and holding her hand. Below, in a frieze below, a tiny winged boy and girl supporting a wreath
Place of Origin
Florence, Italy (made)
Date
pre 1858 (made)
Artist/maker
Fantacchiotti, Odoardo, born 1809 - died 1877 (possibly, sculptor)
Materials and Techniques
Carved black sandstone (pietra serena) in low relief
Dimensions
Height: 64.1 cm, Width: 37.8 cm
Object history note
Acquired in 1861 with alternative ascriptions to Donatello and Desiderio da Settignano, the relief was for many years the most well-loved Madonna in the Museum and more plaster casts of it were sold than of any other sculpture in the collection. It is one of the most beautiful forgeries of a Renaissance Madonna ever made, and is possibly the work of Fantacchiotti who was the most sophisticated exponent of the revived Renaissance sculptural style.
Purchased from the Gilgi Collection, 80l.
Descriptive line
Panel-relief, carved sandstone, depicting the Virgin and Child, possibly by Odoardo Fantacchiotti, Italy (Florence), before 1858
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Penny, Nicholas: Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum, 1540 to the Present Day, Vol. I, Italian, Oxford, 1992, p. 30-31
Natale, M and Ritschard, C: Falsifications Manipulations Pastiches L'art d'imiter - Images de la Renaissance italienne au Musée d'art et d'histoire, Geneva, 1997, pp. 130-142, No.s 2-9, fig. 1
Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1861 In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 28
Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 43
Bormand, Marc; Paolozzi Strozzi, Beatrice; Penny, Nicolas. Desiderio da Settignano. Sculptor of Renaissance Florence. Exhibiton Catalogue, Musée du Louvre, Paris; Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence; National Art Gallery, Washington, 2007, p. 197, fig. 110
Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume II: Text. Sixteenth to Twentieth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, pp. 691, 692
Exhibition History
Fake: The Art Of Deception (British Museum 07/03/1990-03/09/1990)
Materials
Sandstone
Techniques
Carving; Low relief
Subjects depicted
Jesus Christ; Mary (Virgin Mary)
Categories
Sculpture; Religion; Christianity; Fakes & forgeries
Collection code
SCP
