The Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine and Mary Magdalene c. 1655-60
Red-brown oil paint on paper | 35.8 x 44.7 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 904035
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609-64)
The Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine and Mary Magdalene c. 1655-60
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609-64)
The Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine and Mary Magdalene c. 1655-60
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A drawing of the Virgin seated with the Child supported in her lap, St Mary Magdalene kneeling next to them, and St Catherine of Alexandria kneeling in the foreground on the right. An angel on the left holds up one side of the Virgin's mantle. The uncomfortable poses of the angel and St Catherine and the staccato handling of the oil paint indicate that this is a late work. Castiglione seems to have been primarily concerned with establishing a rhythm of lights and darks across the surface of the paper. In the densest areas the brushstrokes have coalesced into solid patches of paint, and the resulting bleed-through of oil can be seen on the reverse of the sheet, exposed on the other side of the plinth.
Provenance
Probably Carlo II and Fernandino-Carlo Gonzaga, 9th and 10th Dukes of Mantua; Zaccaria Sagredo; from whose heirs purchased by Joseph Smith, British Consul in Venice, 1752; from whom purchased by George III, 1762
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Medium and techniques
Red-brown oil paint on paper
Measurements
35.8 x 44.7 cm (sheet of paper)
Other number(s)
RL 4035Alternative title(s)
The Virgin and Child Adored