(Pomarancio circa 1553–1626 Rome)
The Madonna and Child on a crescent moon,
oil on panel, 37 x 31.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
sale, Sotheby’s, London, 10 December 2015, lot 166 (as Cristoforo Roncalli, sold for £56,250);
where acquired by the present owner

Cristoforo Roncalli was originally from Pomarancio and moved to Siena in 1575, where he executed an altarpiece for the city’s cathedral. He was documented in Rome from 1582 and gained commissions from numerous patrician families including there, as is illustrated by the numerous works by the artist included in the prestigious collections of the Barberini, the Borghese, the Colonna and the Spada.

Roncalli’s abilities as a painter were equally admired by his fellow artists, such as Peter Paul Rubens, who reportedly referred to him as ‘among the top in Rome’. Rubens’ praise can be underlined by the financial success Roncalli’s work met in the Eternal City, where he counted among the highest paid artists of his time (see R. Spear, The Bottom Line of Painting Caravaggesque, in: L. Pericolo/D. Stone (eds.), Caravaggio. Reflections and Refractions, Dorchester 2014, p. 199 and pp. 209–210).

The present painting is most probably an early work by the artist, in which Sienese influences can still be discerned. The Madonna, resting her foot gently upon a crescent moon, is represented with the Child standing on her lap. A light emanates from the figures, illuminating the dark clouds around them. Christ’s right hand is extended in a gesture of blessing, a detail which relates to Roncalli’s Madonna and Child, conserved in the collection of the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino.