La Belle Jardinière (madonna And Child With Saint John The Baptist), After Raphael (1483-1520)

La Belle Jardinière (Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist), XVIII After Raffaello Sanzio, called Raphael (1483-1520)

Period: Early 18th century

Medium: Oil on canvas

Overall size with the frame is 144cm x 113cm x 12cm and the painting itself measures 111cm x 92cm

The present work is a large and impressive, early 18th century version of Raphael’s celebrated Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist, known as La Belle Jardinière. Raphael's original, now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, was acquired in Siena on behalf of King Francis I of France (1494 - 1547).

La Belle Jardinière, also known as the Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist, is a painting started by Raphael, and is widely accepted as having been finished by Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, It depicts the Madonna, a young Christ, and a young John the Baptist. It is believed to have been commissioned by the Sienese patrician Fabrizio Sergardi in approximately 1507.

The size and quality of this composition is exceptional. The high quality of its execution would suggest that it is by a well-trained hand with technical ability. The rendering of the anatomy and the depiction of the landscape scene in the background shows great skill and understanding of perspective and tonality.

Raphael’s original is one of the several Madonna paintings executed by Raphael during his stay in Florence (1504-1508). Considered to be one of Raphael’s most important Madonnas, it is known for the harmonic and proportional balancing of the poses of the figures and for the high formal quality present in every element.

The present work shows the same sort of qualities for which the original is known. It is of a similar size to the original and evokes the same sort of awe and wonder. The way Raphael arranges the figures, the addition of the iconography, and the idyllic pastoral location in which the scene is set tell a story that elevates this composition beyond that of an object of worship.

Raphael is considered one of the most important European artists of all time and the outstanding figure of his time. He was born in the Italian town of Urbino in 1483, and lived there until moving to Florence in 1504. His father, Giovanni Santi, was painter to the cultured court of the Montefeltro and so, from an early age, Raphael was surrounded by art, literature, and poetry.

Although he had a relatively short career, Raphel had an enduring impact on the fabric of art history. Best known for his Madonnas and for his large figure compositions in the Vatican, Raphael’s work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur.

Condition report:

The canvas was lined most likely around 100-120 years ago. There appears to be minimal intervention within the majority of the painting. However, there has been a partial recent cleaning of the work with selective amounts of intervention in order to retain some of the patination.

The work undertaken is fully reversible and further cleaning of the work will be possible but preference on this occasion was to leave the age-related patination evenly distributed within the restoration. There is some retouching and strengthening of the background, mainly to the right-hand sky area.

There is one small area of infill and consolidation to the right-hand lower side of the child’s left foot within the ground foliage which is well blended. There is general craquelure throughout the painting commensurate with its age. The canvas is in excellent tension and the paint surface is stable.

Note: The frame had some old woodworm scattered throughout. This had had 5 coats of a specialist proprietary treatment as a precaution.

The aperture has been overlaid and double-layered for strengthening. The frame had been filled where required and restored. It has been resurfaced with a gilding colour which we think would have been very close to the original gilding colouration. The verso has also been resurfaced for completeness of the frame restoration.

Please note that the frame and painting mounting weigh 25 kg so carefully consideration for gallery mounting or fixings for wall mounting will need to be given.

The laden weight for shipping will be 35 kgs + and the overall dimensions of the packaging will be circa 155 x 125 x 22 which is reflected in the shipping costs. This is a very large work and frame.

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Note:

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Shipping:

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The frame is a gift and is therefore being provided to you at no additional cost. Any damages to the frame during transit do not give the buyer a basis for a claim or validate a request for the cancellation of a sale.

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