About the Artwork
Madonna and Child with Angels presents a fine example of the brilliance of Florentine Renaissance painting in the mid-fifteenth century. Gozzoli’s main objective was not to depict a humble Virgin Mary but the Queen of Heaven, dressed in a sumptuous, jewel-bedecked gown and ermine-lined cloak. She and her child are closely accompanied by their retinue of seraphim. Here the angels are treated as a colorful decorative backdrop. The composition appears somewhat claustrophobic because the edges of the panel were slightly cut down by a previous owner.
Virgin and Child with Angels
ca. 1460
Benozzo Gozzoli
ca. between 1420 and 1422-1497
Italian
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Gold leaf and tempera on wood panel
Unframed: 25 3/4 × 19 7/8 inches (65.4 × 50.5 cm) Framed: 41 × 32 1/4 × 4 5/8 inches (104.1 × 81.9 × 11.8 cm)
Paintings
European Painting
Bequest of Eleanor Clay Ford
77.2
Public Domain
Markings
Inscribed, in Latin, on the Madonna's halo: AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA Inscribed, in Latinized Greek, on the Child's halo: YHS XPS [Jesus Christ]
Provenance
by 1908, until 1930, Baron von Tucher (Vienna, Austria);by 1932, Duveen Brothers (New York, New York, USA);
1932, Mr. and Mrs. Edsel Ford (Detroit, Michigan, USA);
Eleanor Clay Ford [Mrs. Edsel Ford] [1896-1976] (Detroit, Michigan, USA);
1977-present, bequest to 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.
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Wickhoff, F. "Die Sammlung Tucher." Müncher Jahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst 3 (1908): pp. 21-30; p. 22, (pl. 30) [late 1480s].
Berenson, B. Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, 3rd ed. London, 1909, p. 116.
Thieme-Becker, Allgemeines Lexicon der Bildenden Künstler, vol. 3. Leipzig, 1909, pp. 341-349; p. 348 [as by Benozzo Gozzoli].
Venturi, A. Storia dell' arte Italiana, vol. 9, pt. 1. Milan, 1911, p. 7, no. 430.
Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Paintings. Exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1919, p. 67.
Gnoli, U. Pittori e miniatori dell'Umbria. Spoleto, 1923, p. 65.
Contaldi, E. Benozzo Gozzoli: Le vite--le opere. Milan, 1928, p. 238 [as artist's Pisan period].
Van Marle, R. Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, vol. 11. The Hague, 1929, p. 150 (ill.).
Hoogewerff, G.J. Benozzo Gozzoli. Paris, 1930, p. 62 [as ca. 1470].
Loan Exhibition of Italian Paintings from the XIV to XVI Century. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, 1933, cat. 17 (ill.).
Valentiner, W. "Die Leihausstellung frühitalienischer Malerei in Detroit." Pantheon 12 (August 1933): pp. 236-243; p. 238, 241 (ill.).
Venturi, Lionello. Italian Paintings in America, vol. 2. New York, 1933, no. 215 (ill.).
Catalogue of a Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1934, p. 6, cat. 30, (pl. 5).
Lagaisse, M. Benozzo Gozzoli: Les Traditions trécentistes et les tendances nouvelles chez un peintre florentin du quattrocento. Paris, 1934, pp. 48-50, 230 [ca. 1466].
Berenson, B. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Catalogo dei principali artisti e delle loro opere con un indici dei luoghi, vol. 2 (Pittori fiorentini). Milan, 1936, p. 226.
Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture, Masterpieces of Art. Exh. cat., New York World's Fair. New York, 1939, p. 77, cat. 157, (pl. 14).
Masterpieces of Painting from Detroit Private Collections. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, 1949, no. 11 [as Madonna and Child with Cherubim, lent by Mrs. Edsel B. Ford].
Berenson, B. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Florentine School, vol. 1. London, 1963, p. 94.
Padoa Rizzo, A. Benozzo Gozzoli, pittore fiorentino. Florence, 1972, pp. 52, 122, 172 [ca. 1456].
Antiques Show. Exh. cat., Liggett University. Detroit, 1977, pp. 80-84 (ill.).
Bulletin of the DIA 56, no. 1: Annual Report (1977): pp. 9, 23, 27 (fig. 42).
“Arts Department.” Journal of the City Council (May 5, 1977): pp. 1060–1061, [city of Detroit].
"La Chronique des Arts Principales Acquisitions des Musées en 1977." Gazette des Beaux-Arts, suppl. 1310 (March 1978): p. 41, no. 188 (ill.).
Pope-Hennessy, John. "The Ford Italian Paintings." Bulletin of the DIA 57, no. 1 (1979): pp. 15-23; pp. 18-20 (ill.), 23, note 14.
Cummings, F., ed. Selected Works from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1979, p. 132, cat. 105 (ill.) [caption only].
100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, p. 94, (ill.).
Padoa Rizzo, A. Benozzo Gozzoli: Catalogo completo. Florence, 1992, p. 71 [ca. 1456-1461].
Acidini Luchinat, C. Benozzo Gozzoli. Milan, 1994, p. 41 [ca. 1460].
Henshaw, Julia, ed. A Visitor's Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 175 (ill.).
Ahl, D. Benozzo Gozzoli. New Haven and London, 1996, pp. 210, 214-215, cat. 11, (pl. 276) [ca. 1452-1456].
Secrest, Meryle. Duveen: A Life in Art. New York, 2004, p. 446.
Kanter, L., and P. Palladino. Fra Angelico. Exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2005, pp. 304, 306-309, cat. no. 60, (ill.); p. 307.
Jean Fouquet: The Melun Diptych. Exh. cat., Gemäldegalerie der Staatlichen Museen – Preußicher Kulturbesitz. Berlin, 2018, pp. 27–28.
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Benozzo Gozzoli, Virgin and Child with Angels, ca. 1460, gold leaf and tempera on wood panel. Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of Eleanor Clay Ford, 77.2.
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