Madonna and Child

Probably intended for private devotion in a domestic interior, this painting shows the Madonna supporting the Christ Child on her knee as he raises his hand in a gesture of blessing. Behind, a deep green curtain, serving as a casual substitute for the traditional "cloth of honor," is pulled aside to reveal a light blue sky.

The figures are copied from a composition by the prominent Venetian artist Cima da Conegliano (ca. 1459-1517/19). Known from two surviving versions (now in the museums of Düsseldorf, Germany, and Avignon, France), Cima's composition is wider than the Walters’ panel and includes the figures of Saints John the Baptist and Francis of Assisi flanking the Madonna. The Walters' panel may be a fragment from a similarly shaped painting, thereby explaining the Madonna and Christ's focused gazes outside of the picture field.

Little is known about Girolamo da Udine. The only signed painting by him that is known today is a large altarpiece of the “Coronation of the Virgin” at the Civic Museum in his hometown of Udine, near Venice. Like the Walters’ painting, the style of this work is strongly indebted to Cima, suggesting that Girolamo was one of that artist’s many pupils.

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Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Private collection, Florence [possibly Berenson collection]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1911 [mode of acquisition unknown] [through Berenson]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.