(Sassoferrato 1609–1685 Rome)
Madonna del garofano (Madonna of the Carnation),
oil on canvas, 109.5 x 82 cm, framed

Provenance:
Helene Wili von Kapff (1887–1973) Collection, Bern, Switzerland;
her sale Christie’s, London, 29 November 1968, Lot 70;
European Private Collection

Literature:
F. Russell, Sassoferrato and his Sources: a Study of Seicento Allegiance, in “The Burlington Magazine” 1977, 119.1977, p. 696, fig. 39. F. Zeri, Sassoferrato copista, San Severino Marche 1999, pp. 14-15

We are grateful to François Macé de Lépinay for confirming the attribution on the basis of a high resolution digital photograph.

The Madonna is seated on a marble throne with the Infant Christ on her lap, holding carnations; to the right, we find carnations in a glass vase and apricots on a ledge, to the left, an open window with a view of an extensive landscape. The composition is unusual in Sassoferrato’s oeuvre in that it was inspired by a prototype from the Northern Renaissance, possibly derived from an engraving.

Sassoferrato´s artistic personality was created by broad influences: by the works of Antonio da Fabriano, Perugino, and especially Raphael, but also of Federico Barocci and Guido Reni. As Russell points out, the present painting also shows that Sassoferrato’s knowledge extended “beyond the borders of the Italian Renaissance” (see literature).

The prototype of the painting can indeed be identified in a painting by Joos van Cleve, a Madonna and Child conserved at the Suermondt-Ludwig Museum in Aachen, and of which two other versions also exist: one is in a private collection and the other is in the Gemäldegalerie of the Staatliche Museen, Berlin. Van Cleve’s composition was soon noted in Italy, as shown by Giampietrino’s Madonna of the Cherries (see J. O. Hand, Joos Van Cleve. The complete paintings, 2004, New Haven and London, p. 95, fig. 100, pp. 185-186, Nos. 112, 112.1, 112.25, fig. 160; Joos van Cleve. Leonardo des Nordens, ed. by P. van den Brink, 2011, pp. 116-118, 175-176, figs. 89-92, cat. nos. 33, 34, 35, 36).

The paintings of Sassoferrato display the seventeenth century devotion to religious images, while the patronage of his art shows he was also greatly admired for his technical ability and use of colour. Refined and eclectic, the artist Salvi, Sassoferrato, was familiar with the tradition of the Italian and European Renaissance. He was receptive to Raphael’s subjects, as well as to Venetian colouring and to landscape views deriving from Ferrara and Emilia. Salvi was steeped in an extensive figurative culture, and had a profound knowledge of artists and their works. Zeri examined this painting (see literature), explaining how the artist created a relationship with the model, and argues that the present composition is “an interpretation” rather than a copy. Joos van Cleve´s painting is on a small canvas of 50cm height; Sassoferrato’s painting is about 120cm tall. Zeri remarks on the splendid detail of the beautiful flowers and carnations in the present painting. Lépinay also notes that the present painting is not a rigorous copy of van Cleve the model, from which the face of the Madonna and the glimpse of the landscape are taken up: They differ profoundly in the Christ Child, in the architectural elements and in the orientation of the throne.

Sassoferrato enriches the composition with fine details; the still life of a vase with carnations and apricots, can even be considered a picture within a picture. The distinctive sense of colour, almost glazed in texture, was influenced by the works of Lorenzo Lotto during his stay in the Marche, and adds to the considerable quality of this work. It confirms Sassoferato’s interest in Renaissance painting, one that was unusual in seventeenth century painting.