Physical description
Arched relief in Istrian stone of the Virgin and Child with kneeling members of the Guild of the Misericordia. The Virgin, represented standing in full face, wears an ample mantle fastened on her breast by an almond-shaped medallion (mandorla) with a naked figure of the Christ Child blessing. She holds her mantle open with both hands; its extremities are supported by standing angels to right and left. Beneath the cloak are nine kneeling members of the Guild of Santa Maria della Misericordia in attitudes of prayer, four on the right and five on the left. In the branches of the fig tree which forms the background are six busts of kings and prophets holding scrolls.
Place of Origin
Venice, Italy (made)
Date
ca. 1445 - 1450 (made)
Artist/maker
Buon, Bartolomeo, born 1395 - died 1471 (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Istrian stone, carved from six blocks
Dimensions
Height: 251.5 cm, Width: 208.3 cm, Depth: 50 cm, Weight: 6932 kg
Object history note
The relief was carved for the tympanum (the space between the lintel and arch) over the principal doorway of the Scuola Vecchia di Santa Maria della Misericordia in Venice. The sculpture was originally painted and slight traces of blue paint remain in the background. The Virgin once wore a high crown. The motif of the Christ Child in a mandorla on the Virgin's chest is of Byzantine origin and occurs on other works produced in Venice around this date. Some areas are made up in plaster, including the top of the arch above the Virgin's head. The Buon were the most important Venetian sculptors during the first half of the fifteenth century. Bartolommeo inherited the workshop on the death of his father, Giovanni, in about 1443.
Descriptive line
Arched relief in Istrian Stone of the Virgin and Child with kneeling members of the Guild of the Misericordia, Bartolomeo Buon, Italy (Venice) ca. 1445-50
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Robinson, J. C., Letter of 24 October, 1883, The Times
Fiocco, G., "I Lamberti a Venezia: III, Imitatori e seguaci," Dedalo,viii, 1927-28.
Fiocco, G., Rivista d'arte, xii, 1930, p. 155
Maclagan, E. and Longhurst, M., Catalogue of Italian Sculpture, London: Victoria and Albert, 1932, p.100
Planiscig, L., "Die Bildhauer Venedigs in der ersten Hälfte des Quattrocento," Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, iv, 1930, p. 108-110.
Seymour, C., Sculpture in Italy 1400-1500 (The Pelican History of Art), Harmondsworth, 1966, p. 103.
Pope-Hennessy, J. assisted by Lightbrown, R., Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1964, cat. 369
Wolters, W., La scultura veneziana gotica (1300-1460), Venice: Alfieri, 1976, cat. 250, p.290-291, fig.831
Schulz, A., The Sculpture of Giovanni and Bartolomeo Bon and their Workshop, Philadelphia: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 1978, 12-25, figs. 10-20
Schulz, A. , "Revising the History of Venetian Renaissance Sculpture: Niccolò and Pietro Lamberti," in Saggi e Memorie di Storia dell'Arte, 15, 1986, p. 12, n. 9
Williamson, P. (ed.) European Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum,, London, 1996, pp. 74-75.
Grevembroch in Monumenta Veneta ex antiques ruderibus Templorum, aliarumque Aedium Vetustate collapsarum collecta studio et cura Petri Gradonici Jacobi Sen: F. Anno MDCCLIV, MS in Biblioteca Correr, Venice, pars secunda, c. 43
Raggio, Olga, 'Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum', Art Bulletin vol.L, 1968, pp. 99
Sansovino, Francesco. Venetia citta nobilissima e singolare. Venice, 1663, pp.285-6
Lorenzetti. Venezia e il su estuario. Venice, 1926, pp.392-3
Venezia e le sue lagune. ii, pt. 2, Venice, 1847, pp.287-8
Moschini. Nuova guida per Venezia. Venice, 1828, pp.130
Il forestiere istruito nelle cose più pregevoli e curiose antiche e moderne della Città di Venezia. Venice, 1819, pp.322
La Venezia. 09/04/1882
Fiocco, Rivista d'Arte. XII, 1930, pp.155, fig. 6
Fiocco, G, 'I Lamberti a Venezia-iii, imitatori e seguaci', in Dedalo. VIII, 1927-8, fig, pp.441-2
Perdrizet, La Vierge de Misercorde. 1908, pp.86, no.38
Molmenti. Storia di Venezia nella Vita Privata. I, 1905, pp. 192-4
La scuola grande di San Marco. 1929, p.24
Paoletti, E Il fiore di Venezia. iii, Venice, 1840, pp. 18-20
Paoletti, L'architecttura e la scultura….in Venezia. 1893, pp.55-6, pl. viii, fig 2
Kraus, Geschicte der christliche Kunst. 1891, II, pt I, fig. 268
Cicognara, L. Storia della scultura dal suo Risorgimento in Italia fino al secolo di Canova. II, p.171, pl. 39
List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1882. London, 1883, pp. 3
Subjects depicted
Jesus Christ; Mary (Virgin Mary); Angels; Kings; Robes; Prophets; The Christ Child; Scrolls (information artifacts); Mandorlas; Guilds; Trees, Fig
Categories
Sculpture; Architecture; Religion
Collection code
SCP
