Lot 1094 | Virgin and Child

AMIGONI, JACOPO
1675 Naples or Venice - 1752 Madrid


Title: Virgin and Child.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Mounting: Relined.
Measurement: 81 x 65cm.
Frame/Pedestal: Framed.
Provenance:
Private ownership, Italy.

When one thinks of 18th century Europe, of the compositions of George Frideric Handel, of the sounds of one of the most famous singers of all time, Farinelli, one cannot help but think of one of the artists who brought the spirit of an era to canvas with his colours: Jacopo Amigoni.
Born in Naples or Venice, the artist was active and in demand at the great European courts. Apart from a few stays in Italy, especially in Venice between 1740 and 1747 and possibly in Rome, he stayed in Munich from 1717 to about 1727, in England from 1729 to 1739, in Paris in 1736 and at the court of Ferdinand VI in Madrid from 1747, where he died in 1752.
His painterly oeuvre includes the interiors of palaces and castles, a lively and expressive series of portraits and paintings with religious, literary and mythological themes, and altarpieces.
The present Madonna and Child belongs to a group of works painted by the artist for a private clientele who used this type of painting for devotional purposes. Amigoni painted a whole series with this motif in the course of his career, in some cases as a single figure, in others as part of a composition with several figures. The composition of the present work seems to be influenced by the Venetian Madonnas with Child, especially by the paintings of Giovanni Bellini, in which the Madonna with Jesus stands out against a landscape or black background, often in full length, as in the case of Amigoni's painting. The work thus combines a classical scheme with an earthy colour palette and pastel painting typical of the 18th century.
The present work seems to have met with great interest from the public, as the artist produced at least one other smaller version (private collection).

We are grateful to Enrico Lucchese, Trieste, who has confirmed the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph.