On view
Duane Wilder Gallery
Virgin, Child, Infant John, and Saint Margaret,
1545–50
An imposing figure of the Virgin holds an elongated infant Jesus on her lap. He turns toward Saint John the Baptist, while the Virgin looks to Saint Margaret, identifiable by the dragon from which she reportedly emerged unharmed after having been swallowed. Because of this tale, she was considered a patron saint of childbirth and pregnant women. Her inclusion here suggests that this work may have been commissioned to celebrate the birth of an heir.
Portelli was a founding member of the Florentine Academy of Design, established in 1563, which elevated its members from craftspeople to peers of the literary and philosophical academies that flourished in Renaissance Florence. The painting’s compressed space, dramatic juxtapositions of color, distorted proportions, and twisting poses are hallmarks of Florentine painting of the time.
More Context
Handbook Entry
Said to have hung in the Panciatichi Palace in Florence, the painting is attributed to the Florentine master Carlo Portelli da Loro. The flattened forms, the prevalence of profiles and bold silhouettes, and the manner in which protagonists avoid the viewer’s gaze contribute to an aristocratic, artificial atmosphere. The jarring juxtapositions of colors build on Florentine painting traditions but without the softening shading and suave harmonies of a previous generation. These qualities are all hallmarks of the mid-sixteenth-century Florentine Mannerists. The imposing figure of the Virgin holds an overly large baby on her lap, the child Jesus, who appears about to slide forward. His posture prefigures the dead adult Christ cradled on his mother’s lap in the Pietà. Here, however, the interaction among the figures is more complex. Jesus turns backward toward his cousin, Saint John — also a miraculously born child — and grasps his staff. While Christ was born of a virgin, John was the child of the elderly Saint Elizabeth, who had long been infertile. Margaret, an early Christian saint from Antioch, is depicted with a dragon, from which she reportedly emerged unharmed after having been swallowed. Because of this apocryphal tale, women in labor invoked her. Mary looks toward this advocate for pregnant women, reminding the viewer of her own role as the Virgin of Childbirth. These references suggest that the painting may have been commissioned as an ex-voto celebrating the birth of an heir.
Information
1545–50
Panciatici Palace, Florence, possibly by the early 17th century; [1]
Emilie Grigsby, New York; [2]
Emilie Grigsby Auction, Eighth Session, January 25, 1912 Evening Sale, Anderson Auction Company, New York, Lot 1174. [3]
Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Oakman, New York (?);
Mrs. W. G. Oakman Auction, April 24, 1914, Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York (?); [4]
Gifted in 1914 by Harold Godwin to The Princeton University Art Museum. [5]
NOTES:
[1] See curatorial file for letter from Harold Godwin; The Anderson Galleries, Illustrated Catalogue of the Art and Literary Collections of Miss Emilie Grigsby of New York City, Part I – Objects of Art [...] On Exhibition in the Anderson Galleries and to be Sold by Unrestricted Public Auction During the Week Beginning January 22, 1912, New York: Anderson Auction Company, 1912, Lot 1174, p. 182.
[2] Emilie Grigsby (ca. 1880-1964) was the mistress of industrialist and art collector Charles T. Yerkes (1837-1905), and became an avid art collector herself with Yerkes’ support. In 1912 when her collection was sold at auction, she also sold her mansion at 660 Park Avenue that Yerkes had built for her and moved to London. See https://research.frick.org/directory/detail/4803. For Yerkes, see https://research.frick.org/directory/detail/1159.
[3] The auction catalogue description of the painting states: "Francesco dei Rossi (Called Salviati) 1510- 1563. 1174. Madonna and Child with St. John and an Angel. The fair-haired mother in a pink dress with her blue mantle across her knees is seated, the nude boy in her lap. Her head is seen in profile as she turns to an angel seen at her back. The Child turns away from her to take a reed cross from the young St. John at his side. Salviati who took his name from his patron Cardinal Salviati, was a friend of Vasari while both were pupils of Andrea del Sarto and later of Bandinelli. The frame is Italian carved wood of XVI Century. Bought from Prince Panciatici’s Palace in Florence where it was said to have hung for three hundred years. Canvas. Height, 50 inches; width, 37 1-2 inches." See The Anderson Galleries, Illustrated Catalogue of the Art and Literary Collections of Miss Emilie Grigsby of New York City, Part I – Objects of Art [...] On Exhibition in the Anderson Galleries and to be Sold by Unrestricted Public Auction During the Week Beginning January 22, 1912, New York: Anderson Auction Company, 1912, p. 182. In the copy of the auction catalogue uploaded to the Internet Archive and digitized by The Getty Research Institute, the number "100." is written in pencil to the left of the lot number, perhaps indicating the painting’s sale price. See https://archive.org/details/illustratedcatal02ande/page/182/mode/2up.
[4] See curatorial file for letter from Harold Godwin, which notes "W. G. Oakman sale." At this time an auction catalogue cannot be found, but there are published reports of an auction of the belongings of Mrs. W. G. Oakman (Eliza Conkling Oakman, 1856-1931, wife of financier Walter G. Oakman, 1845- 1922) sold at her home in New York City on April 24, 1914 through Fifth Avenue Art Galleries. Eliza Conkling Oakman was a noted art collector, but more research is needed to confirm this is the correct collection and auction. See American Art Annual XI, ed. Florence N. Levy (New York: The American Federation of Arts, 1914): 471, 473; https://www.nytimes.com/1914/04/24/archives/chinese-ginger-jars- 164-crowd-at-sale-of-mrs-wg-oakman-furnishings.html.
[5] Harold Godwin (1858-1931) was the brother-in-law of Allan Marquand (1853-1924).
- Frank Jewett Mather Jr., "Painting", Art and archaeology 20, no. 3 (1925): p. 145-151., p. 148
- B. B. Fredericksen and F. Zeri, Census of pre-nineteenth-century Italian paintings in North American collections, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972)., p. 99
- Pierluigi Carofano, "A sixteenth-century Tuscan painter at mid-century: More on the late work of Carlo Portelli", Apollo 153, no. 468 (Feb. 1, 2001): p. 21-27., p. 21-27; p. 25 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 315
- Lia Brunori and Alessandro Cecchi, Carlo Portelli: pittore eccentrico fra Rosso Fiorentino e Vasari (Firenze: Giunti, 2015)., p. 153 (illus.)
