(Naples 1634–1705)
Madonna and Child,
oil on canvas, 95 x 75.5 cm, unframed

Provenance:
Private European collection

We are grateful to Giuseppe Scavizzi for confirming the attribution on the basis of a photograph. He dates the present painting in the mid-1670s.

We are also grateful to Riccardo Lattuada for independently confirming the attribution on the basis of a photograph.

This previously unpublished painting constitutes an addition to the oeuvre of Luca Giordano. The painting, represents the Madonna sitting, bent over the sleeping Christ Child, whom she holds tenderly in her arms. This affectionate scene is observed from above by three putti, whose pale faces almost fade into the clouds around them. By contrast, the attention with which Giordano has elaborated the flesh tones of the Madonna and Child, emphasising the softness of their rosy skin, is particularly striking.

Due to stylistic comparisons, a date in the mid-1670s can be advanced for the execution of present painting. Another, almost identical, work was published by Laura Muti in 2011, with an attribution to Luca Giordano (see L. Muti, Alcuni dipinti di Luca Giordano in omaggio a Ribera, in: Arte Documento, Venice, no. 27, 2011, pp. 110–15). Muti underlines the influence of Jusepe de Ribera on Luca Giordano, invoking the plasticity of the forms, in particular in the body of the Christ Child, which appears delicate, yet at the same time, solid. However, the present work, conversely, additionally serves to illustrate Giordano’s emancipation from Ribera’s influence as can be observed in the softness and expressiveness he acquired through his formative travels to Rome, Venice and Parma.

Luca Giordano executed a variety of prestigious commissions, not only in his hometown of Naples, but also in Venice, Padua and Florence, where he decorated the Duomo of Santa Maria del Carmine and the Salone of Palazzo Riccardi. He was later called to Spain where he produced works commissioned for the cathedral in Toledo and the Escorial. Giordano was for a long time known by his nickname ‘Fa Presto’ (‘works quickly’), denoting his ability to produce high quality commissions at a rapid rate. He was one of the most versatile painters of the Italian Baroque.