Not currently on display at the V&A

Cecilia Bartoli: La Madonna del Pomodoro

Drawing
2007 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Portrait by Linda Sutton of the opera singer Cecilia Bartoli, 2007, signed and dated with dedication by the subject.

Artist Linda Sutton has specialised in figurative and narrative painting, often with a mythological or literary subject matter. A series inspired by opera includes a painting of opera singer Cecilia Bartoli entitled La Madonna del Pomodoro, which shows the mezzo-soprano wearing a white dress, the skirt patterned with tomatoes, and reclining in a stylised Italian landscape behind a row of seed packets showing varieties of tomato. The theme recurs in this pencil sketch in which Bartoli wears a necklace of tomatoes.

The drawing is dedicated to ‘Tony and Susan’, opera lover Anthony Gasson and his wife. Anthony Gasson (died 2012) was an enthusiastic collector of opera memorabilia and items from his collection have been acquired by the V&A.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCecilia Bartoli: La Madonna del Pomodoro (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Pencil with ink dedication on paper
Brief description
Portrait by Linda Sutton of the opera singer Cecilia Bartoli, 2007, signed and dated with dedication by the subject
Physical description
Pencil drawing of Cecilia Bartoli, head and shoulders, wearing a necklace of tomatoes. Signed and dated by the artist in pencil, and dedicated by the subject to Tony and Susan in ballpoint pen, lower right hand corner.
Dimensions
  • Height: 70cm
  • Width: 50cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Cecilia Bartoli / "La Madonna del Pomodoro"' (Inscribed by artist in pencil beneath portrait)
  • 'Linda Sutton 2007' (Artist's signature in pencil, beneath portrait, right)
  • 'To Tony & Susan / with love "AMORE" / Cecilia / 19/12.2007' (Dedication by the subject, in ballpoint pen)
  • 'London / To Tony Operanut and Susan. / With love from, Linda and Dominic xxx / 28h May, 2007' (Inscribed by the artist in pencil, reverse)
Credit line
Acquired with the support of the Friends of the V&A
Subject depicted
Summary
Portrait by Linda Sutton of the opera singer Cecilia Bartoli, 2007, signed and dated with dedication by the subject.

Artist Linda Sutton has specialised in figurative and narrative painting, often with a mythological or literary subject matter. A series inspired by opera includes a painting of opera singer Cecilia Bartoli entitled La Madonna del Pomodoro, which shows the mezzo-soprano wearing a white dress, the skirt patterned with tomatoes, and reclining in a stylised Italian landscape behind a row of seed packets showing varieties of tomato. The theme recurs in this pencil sketch in which Bartoli wears a necklace of tomatoes.

The drawing is dedicated to ‘Tony and Susan’, opera lover Anthony Gasson and his wife. Anthony Gasson (died 2012) was an enthusiastic collector of opera memorabilia and items from his collection have been acquired by the V&A.
Bibliographic reference
Collection
Accession number
S.1732-2014

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Record createdJanuary 22, 2015
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