Virgin and Child
Figure Group
ca. 1645 (made)
ca. 1645 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This group was previously thought to be by Girolamo Campagna (1549-1625), dated 1578, and to have come from the church of the Madonna dell'Arsenale, Venice, a small church demolished in 1809. While the Virgin’s provenance has been confirmed, it has now been demonstrated that the sculpture was made by the 17th century sculptor Francesco Cavrioli (c. 1600-1670) (see Siracusano 2014).
The original location of the Virgin, atop the facade of the church of the Madonna dell’Arsenale is recorded in a painting by Canaletto in Woburn Abbey. It was framed by two angels that have not yet resurfaced. When the church was demolished in 1809, the Virgin was first moved to an unknown location and reappeared around 1840, when it was donated by the admiral Amilcare Paolucci to the Scuola della Misericordia. It was then bought by Sir John Leslie in 1878 and installed over a tablet bearing an inscription recording the transfer.
The attribution to Francesco Cavrioli has been made on stylistic comparisons with other documented sculptures, in particular with the high relief altarpiece carved in 1645 for the Battuti altar in the cathedral of Santa Maria Nova in Serravalle (Vittorio Veneto), the sculptor birth town. The Virgin can also be confronted to the Allegory of Venice, also dated from 1645, in San Giorgio Maggiore.
Francesco Cavrioli was active in Venice from the 1630s; he became one of the closest collaborator to the architect Baldassare Longhena (1598-1682).
The original location of the Virgin, atop the facade of the church of the Madonna dell’Arsenale is recorded in a painting by Canaletto in Woburn Abbey. It was framed by two angels that have not yet resurfaced. When the church was demolished in 1809, the Virgin was first moved to an unknown location and reappeared around 1840, when it was donated by the admiral Amilcare Paolucci to the Scuola della Misericordia. It was then bought by Sir John Leslie in 1878 and installed over a tablet bearing an inscription recording the transfer.
The attribution to Francesco Cavrioli has been made on stylistic comparisons with other documented sculptures, in particular with the high relief altarpiece carved in 1645 for the Battuti altar in the cathedral of Santa Maria Nova in Serravalle (Vittorio Veneto), the sculptor birth town. The Virgin can also be confronted to the Allegory of Venice, also dated from 1645, in San Giorgio Maggiore.
Francesco Cavrioli was active in Venice from the 1630s; he became one of the closest collaborator to the architect Baldassare Longhena (1598-1682).
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Title | Virgin and Child (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Istrian stone |
| Brief description | Group, Istrian stone, the Virgin and Child with a tablet bearing an inscription, by Francesco Cavrioli, Italy (Venice), 1645 |
| Physical description | Virgin and Child with a tablet bearing an inscription. The Virgin is seated on a plinth, with her head inclined slightly downwards and turned three-quarter profile to the right. On the left the Child stands on a fold of the Virgin's drapery spread over the top of the plinth. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | Bought for £2000 from Mrs. A.L.King. The group was bought for £300 by Sir John Leslie in 1878, and installed at Glaslough over a tablet (A.15a-1961), which bears an inscription. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This group was previously thought to be by Girolamo Campagna (1549-1625), dated 1578, and to have come from the church of the Madonna dell'Arsenale, Venice, a small church demolished in 1809. While the Virgin’s provenance has been confirmed, it has now been demonstrated that the sculpture was made by the 17th century sculptor Francesco Cavrioli (c. 1600-1670) (see Siracusano 2014). The original location of the Virgin, atop the facade of the church of the Madonna dell’Arsenale is recorded in a painting by Canaletto in Woburn Abbey. It was framed by two angels that have not yet resurfaced. When the church was demolished in 1809, the Virgin was first moved to an unknown location and reappeared around 1840, when it was donated by the admiral Amilcare Paolucci to the Scuola della Misericordia. It was then bought by Sir John Leslie in 1878 and installed over a tablet bearing an inscription recording the transfer. The attribution to Francesco Cavrioli has been made on stylistic comparisons with other documented sculptures, in particular with the high relief altarpiece carved in 1645 for the Battuti altar in the cathedral of Santa Maria Nova in Serravalle (Vittorio Veneto), the sculptor birth town. The Virgin can also be confronted to the Allegory of Venice, also dated from 1645, in San Giorgio Maggiore. Francesco Cavrioli was active in Venice from the 1630s; he became one of the closest collaborator to the architect Baldassare Longhena (1598-1682). |
| Bibliographic reference | Luca Siracusano, "Non Campagna, ma Cavrioli. Una Madonna veneziana a Londra", Arte veneta, no.69, 2012(2014), pp.144-6 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.15&A-1961 |
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| Record created | February 25, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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