About the Artwork
Bendetto da Maiano, the leading Florentine sculptor in the 1480s and 1490s, created this partially painted terracotta relief as a preparatory model for the upper left central marble section of his famous altarpiece of the Annunciation in Sant’Anna dei Lombardi in Naples. The sculptor carved this in Florence with assistance from the young Michelangelo and sent it to Naples by September 1489. Terracotta models such as this one were often used by Renaissance sculptors to sketch out details of their finished works (note here the sensitive treatment of the faces and hands), but relatively few survive. Among the eight known terracotta models surviving from Benedetto’s career, this relief is one of the few to retain traces of its original paint surface. This is also the Detroit Institute of Art’s only documented Renaissance terracotta model for a marble.
God the Father with Two Angels
ca. 1489
Benedetto da Maiano
1442-1497
Italian
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Polychromed terracotta
Overall: 14 1/4 × 10 × 2 7/8 inches (36.2 × 25.4 × 7.3 cm)
Sculpture
European Sculpture and Dec Arts
Museum Purchase, Joseph M. de Grimme Memorial Fund, the Stoddard Family Foundation Fund, with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Silverman, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Brodie, and Dr. and Mrs. Reginald Harnett
2006.60
Public Domain
Markings
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Provenance
presumably since 1490s, Rasponi Spinelli family (Tuscany, Italy);(Durlacher Brothers, London, England);
1913, acquired by Oscar Bondy (Vienna, Austria);
by descent to his daughter, Elizabeth Bondy (Vienna, Austria);
1948, Leopold Blumka (Vienna, Austria);
by descent to his widow, Ruth Blumka (New York, New York, USA);
by descent to her son, Anthony Blumka;
January 9-10, 1996, sold by (Sotheby's, New York, New York, USA) "European Works of Art from the Private Collection and Gallery of the Blumka Estate," lot 41;
James Fenton (Oxford, England);
(Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York, New York, USA);
2006-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Dussler, Luitpold. "A Clay Model by Benedetto da Majano for the Altar in Monte Oliveto, Naples." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 45, no. 256 (July 1924): pp. 21-23; pp. 21-22 (ill.).
Radcliffe, Anthony, Malcolm Baker, and Michael Maek-Gérard. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Renaissance and Later Sculpture with Works of Art in Bronze. London, 1992, p. 66 (ill.).
Radke, Gary M. "Benedetto da Maiano and the Use of Full Scale Preparatory Models in the Quattrocento." In Verrocchio and Late Quattrocento Italian Sculpture, ed. Steven Bule et al. Florence, 1992, p. 217, p. 221 (fig. 170).
European Works of Art from the Private Collection and Gallery of the Blumka Estate. Sales cat., Sotheby's, New York, 9-10 January 1996, no. 41, pp. 50-53 (ill.).
Pope-Hennessy, John. Italian Renaissance Sculpture, 4th ed. London, 1996, p. 382.
Butterfield, Andrew. Early Renaissance Reliefs. New York, 2001, no. 6A (ill.).
Butterfield, Andrew, and Anthony Radcliffe. Italian Sculpture from the Gothic to the Baroque. Exh. cat., Salander-O'Reilly Galleries. New York, 2002, pp. 68-75 (ill.).
Darr, Alan. P., Brian Gallagher. "Recent acquisitions (2000-2006) of European sculpture and decorative arts at The Detroit Institute of Arts." The Burlington Magazine 149, no. 1251 (June 2007): p. 450, (pl. 2).
Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Benedetto da Maiano, God the Father with Two Angels, ca. 1489, polychromed terracotta. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Joseph M. de Grimme Memorial Fund, the Stoddard Family Foundation Fund, et al., 2006.60.
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