Niccolò Berrettoni (macerata Feltria, 1637 – Rome, 1682), Madonna And Child With Angels

Niccolò Berrettoni (Macerata Feltria, 1637 – Rome, 1682)

Madonna and Child with Angels

Oil on copper, 26 x 20.5 cm

The small copper plate—a medium favored in devotional painting between the 16th and 17th centuries for its smooth surface and vivid color rendering —depicts the Virgin seated in an open landscape, holding the Infant Jesus, while an angel holds a processional cross and cherubs peer down from above among the foliage. The small format and the preciousness of the medium suggest a private setting, such as a cabinet or a domestic oratory.

The composition follows in the footsteps of the great Roman tradition of the second half of the 17th century led by Carlo Maratta, of which Niccolò Berrettoni was one of the most sensitive interpreters. Having arrived in Rome around 1670 after an initial apprenticeship in Pesaro under Simone Cantarini, Berrettoni joined Maratta’s workshop and was admitted to the Academy of San Luca in 1675. Among his major works are the frescoes for Villa Cattani Stuart featuring the Aurora cycle, where elongated figures against pink-streaked skies reveal a luminous and refined classicism.

A comparison with the larger canvas version held by the British National Trust is decisive for the attribution. The compositional layout is the same—the Virgin at the center, the Child in her lap, a small figure holding out the cross—with some differences. This is not a simple copy: Berrettoni freely reworked the composition for the precious format of copper, simplifying the narrative and intensifying the emotional tenderness of the scene.