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Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels thumbnail 2
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Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels

Relief
ca. 1426-30 (made)
Artist/Maker
Donatello (after)
Place of origin
Florence (made)

This oval relief was cast in stucco (a type of plaster) using a shallow mould and then painted. This relief may well have been by an original model by Donatello, and was probably made in the workshops in Florence, which specialised in painted stucco reproductions of Madonna reliefs.

The Virgin is seated under an arch, with the infant Jesus on her knee. To the left is probably St Bartholomew, holding a knife, while the crowned saint to the right has been variously identified (including as St Sigismond); seated on the steps of the throne, two angels play a viol and a lute. The style of the painted, half-length figure of the Redeemer in the pediment of the wooden frame suggests this was made around the middle of the fifteenth century. A second pigmented stucco cast from the same model exists in a private collection in New York.

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Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Religion
Christianity
Object type
Relief
TitleVirgin and Child with Saints and Angels (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted stucco
Brief description
Relief, 'Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels', painted stucco in a painted and gilded wooden tabernacle frame, after Donatello, Italy (Florence), ca. 1426-30
Physical description
Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels, oval relief in pigmented stucco. The Virgin, wearing a dark blue cloak, enthroned beneath a central arch, holds the Child in her lap. they are attended by two saints (Saint Bartholomew to the left, and to the right a crowned saint) and two angels playing musical instruments (to the left a viol and to the right a lute).
Dimensions
  • Relief height: 40.6cm
  • Relief width: 30.5cm
  • Tabernacle height: 76.2cm
  • Tabernacle width: 38.1cm
  • Tabernacle depth: 7.5cm (Note: Measured for the Donatello Exhibition 2022-2023)
  • Weight: 4.25 kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries Weighed for the Donatello Exhibition (Palazzo Strozzi, Staatlisches Museen, V&A) 2022-2023
Gallery label
TWO RELEIFS OF THE VIRGIN AND CHILD
By or after Donatello (about 1386–66)

Probably designed for replication, the left-
hand relief was cast in stucco (a type of
plaster) using a shallow mould. It was
then painted. The saints accompanying
the Virgin and Child might have held
reliefs of the virgin and child
some significance for the owner.
A variant showing four angels also after Donatello (about 1386–66)
survives, and is reflected in the marble
seen here. Though possibly contemporary
with the stucco versions, this marble is
more likely a later pastiche, created as
the ‘lost’ original.

Italy, Florence

Left
Painted stucco About 1430–40
Museum no. 93-1882

Right
Marble
About 1430, or 1850–70

Bequeathed by
Dr W.L. Hildburgh FSA

Museum no. A.98-1956
Object history
This relief, which was purchased in Florence, is cast after an original model that was most probably designed for replication by Donatello.
Subjects depicted
Saints
Angels
Viols
Lutes
Halo
Crowns
Architecture
Arches
Arcades
Wings
Steps
Mary (Virgin Mary)
The Christ Child
Jesus Christ
Bartholomew (Saint)
Summary
This oval relief was cast in stucco (a type of plaster) using a shallow mould and then painted. This relief may well have been by an original model by Donatello, and was probably made in the workshops in Florence, which specialised in painted stucco reproductions of Madonna reliefs.

The Virgin is seated under an arch, with the infant Jesus on her knee. To the left is probably St Bartholomew, holding a knife, while the crowned saint to the right has been variously identified (including as St Sigismond); seated on the steps of the throne, two angels play a viol and a lute. The style of the painted, half-length figure of the Redeemer in the pediment of the wooden frame suggests this was made around the middle of the fifteenth century. A second pigmented stucco cast from the same model exists in a private collection in New York.
Bibliographic references
  • Motture, Peta, ed., Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance, London: V&A Publishing, 2023. cat. 1.8, pp. 114-115, entry by Peta Motture Attribution: after Donatello
  • Rowley, Neville, ed., Donatello: Inventor of the Renaissance, Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2022. cat. 19, pp. 166-167, entry by Laura Cavazzini Attribution: after Donatello
  • Caglioti, Francesco, ed., with Laura Cavazzini, Aldo Galli, and Neville Rowley. Donatello: il Rinascimento, Venice: Marsilio, 2022. cat. 4.5, pp. 178-179, entry by Laura Cavazzini Attribution: after Donatello
  • Bellandi, Alfredo. 'Terrecotte dipinte e rilivi in stucco del Rinascimento ad Arezzo' in Accademia Petrarca di Lettre Arti e Scienze. Vol. LVI, 1994, pp.420-1, n. 178
  • Avery, Charles. 'Donatello's marble narrative reliefs', in Le vie del marmot. Aspetti della produzione e della diffsione dei manufatti marmorei tra Quattrocento e Cinquecento, centro culturale. L. Russo, 03/10/1992
  • Gentilini, Giancarlo. I della Robbia, La Scultura invetriata nel Rinascimento. Florence, 1992, pp.22, 147, n.3
  • Jolly, Anna. Madonnas by Donatello and his Circle. Phd Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1992, cat. 20.3, p.94, pl. 32
  • Joannides, Paul. 'Masaccio, Masolino & Minor Sculpture', Paragone/ Arte. Sept 1987, pp.3-24
  • Hildburgh, A. 'Marble Relief Attributed to Donatello and some associable Stuccos', Art Bulletin. xxx, 1948, pp.12-13
  • Janson. 'The Hildburgh Relief: Original or Copy', Art Bulletin, xxx, 1948, pp.143-5
  • Goldscheider. Donatello. London, 1941, pp.44
  • Kauffmann. Donatello. Berlin, 1935, pp.218, n.210
  • MacLagan, E, and Longhurst, Margaret, H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. London: V&A, 1932, pp.18, 19
  • Colasanti. Donatello Rome, 1931, pp.86
  • Toscana szobrászata a quattrocentrocentóban. 1930, pp.195-6, 204, n.73
  • Crutwell. Donatello. London, 1911, p.135
  • Bertraux, Emilé. Donatello. Paris, 1910, pp.232
  • cf. Rassegna d'Arte. VIII, 1908, pp.81
  • Venturi, A Storia dell'arte italiana. vi, Milan, 1908 pp.293-4
  • Schubring. Donatello. Stuttgart & Leipzig, 1907, pp.82, 198
  • Schotmüller. 'Donatello', Munich, Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, 28.1905, p. 379-384
  • Meyer. Donatello. Bielefeld & Leipzig, 1903, pp.60
  • Bode, W. Denkmäler der Renaissance-Sculptur Toscana. Munich, 1892-1905, pp.21
  • Semrau. Donatellos Kanzeln in S. Lorenzo. Breslau, 1891, pp.69
  • List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1882. London, 1883, pp. 10
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
93-1882

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Record createdFebruary 20, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O93426/virgin-and-child-with-saints-relief-donatello/
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