Giovanni Battista Del Verrocchio (florence 1494 - 1569), Virgin And Child, Saint John And Saint Anna

Splendid work of the late Florentine Renaissance, attributed to Giovanni Battista del Verrocchio, known as Il Maestro di Volterra (Florence 1494 - 1569)
Madonna and Child, Saint John and Saint Anna (or St. Elizabeth)

Oil on the table
cm. 98 x 68, in an ancient frame (not coeval) cm. 130 x 101

The work is accompanied by an in-depth study drawn up by prof Emilio Negro, of which we present some extracts.

LINK:https://www.antichitacastelbarco.it/en/produit/madonna-col-bambino--san-giovannino-e-sant-anna

The interesting painting depicts a captivating iconographic theme and therefore very widespread in the Christian tradition: the Virgin holding her divine son in her arms are in fact the protagonists of this lovely devotional representation, also known as '' sacred conversation ''.

In the specific case, San Giovannino is depicted on the right with a tenderly devoted gaze turned to the boy Savior, while his left hand caresses a white lamb placidly lying on a white stone shelf where the cross of reeds and part of the relative cartouche with the inscription ''ECCE AGNUS DEI''.

The little Saint John the Evangelist hands the Messiah a goldfinch, as a Christian belief has it that the red spot on the head of the little bird appeared during the ascent to Mount Calvary, when the pretty little bird removed a sting from the Savior's crown of thorns to relieve his penis and stained his feathers with blood.

We are before the re-enactment of poetic episodes dear to the Christian tradition, although not reported in the Gospels, which would have taken place during the return journey from Egypt, when the Holy Family stopped to rest.

Still noteworthy is the nudity of the little Jesus capable of revealing his earthly nature complementary to the divine one and the unusual presence, in the background, of an elderly woman traditionally identified as Saint Elizabeth, mother of the Baptist, but who could probably also be Sant'Anna, mother of the Virgin.

The valuable stylistic features of the table in question highlight the hand of a talented master of purely Florentine figurative culture who worked in the first half of the sixteenth century; a talented painter whose reference points were Andrea del Sarto, Rosso Fiorentino, Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio but above all Domenico Puligo: for this not insignificant reason it is possible to attribute our panel to Giovan Battista Verrocchi, or Giambattista del Verrocchio (Florence 1494-1564) , grandson of the famous Andrea del Verrocchio, and credibly to be identified with the so-called Master of Volterra;

Giambattista was the epigone of the aforementioned Andrea del Sarto and Puligo, with a characteristic pleasantly whimsical and imaginative ductus. It should be remembered that the rediscovery of this Florentine master apparently to the elite circle of the so-called `` Tuscan eccentrics '' dates back to twenty years ago, so that research dedicated to his interesting artistic personality is still in progress: it is no coincidence that his paintings are sometimes significantly confused with those of Puligo, Andrea Larciani (alias master of Kress landscapes), Francesco Brina and Andrea Piccinelli known as Brescianino.

To obtain confirmation of the proposed proposal, it will therefore be sufficient to compare our beautiful work with other tables by Giovanni Battista Verrocchi, for example that of the castle of Buggiano and the other depicting the Madonna and Child, San Giovannino and two holy children Volterra at Palazzo dei Priori. . In these paintings, as well as the painting here under consideration, in addition to the aforementioned modus operandi derived from the visual thought of Andrea del Sarto, Rosso Fiorentino and Florentine pictorial currents of more bizarre tradition: typical characters of the compositions plus structures created by Giovanni Battista Verrocchi in the fruitful years of his first artistic maturity.

The painting is completed by a beautiful antique carved and gilded wooden frame.

The painting is in excellent condition and is sold complete with a certificate of authenticity in accordance with the law (FIMA).

Follow us on :
https://www.instagram.com/galleriacastelbarco/?hl=it
https://www.facebook.com/galleriacastelbarco/