Virgin and Child, Infant St. John the Baptist and SS Zachariah, Elizabeth, Joseph, Catherine and a Female Saint

Location

Country: Holy See
City: Vatican City
Place: British Embassy

This lyrical composition depicts the introduction of the Christ Child and the infant St John the Baptist, each supported by his kneeling mother, the Virgin Mary and Elizabeth, respectively. St Zachariah, the father of St John the Baptist is depicted on the extreme right, standing in adoration of the sacred Child. Behind the Virgin Mary are St Joseph, St Catherine of Alexandria with the instrument of her martyrdom - the wheel, and an unidentified female figure. Schiavone’s painting is remarkable for the distribution on a diagonal axis of the figures as well as the elegant S-shaped postures of some of the figures, echoing the contrapposto of the sculpture in the niche.

The nocturnal scene is set against a refined architectural background which,as many scholars have pointed out, echoes Jacopo Sansovino’s architectural feature, the Loggetta of the Campanile in the Piazza San Marco in Venice built in 1537. Dated between 1552 and 1554, Schiavone’s painting is considered to be one of the earliest examples of a religious subject depicted as a nocturnal scene – a trend which became popular with other Venetian artists such as Jacopo Bassano, Palma Giovane and Paolo Veronese about a decade later.

Schiavone’s work shows the influence of a number of central Italian artists including Parmigianino, Raphael, Francesco Salviati as well as Titian and Giorgione in Venice. His speed of execution and lack of finish which astonished Titian are well exemplified in this picture, where the figures are painted with light almost schematic brushstrokes. The painting featured in the Genius of Venice exhibition at the Royal Academy in London in 1983–84 and, more recently, in the 'Splendori del Rinascimento a Venezia. Schiavone tra Parmigianino, Tintoretto e Tiziano' exhibition at the Museo Correr, Venice between 28 November 2015 and 10 April 2016.

Andrea Meldolla, called Schiavone, was born in Zara, Dalmatia, at that time under Venetian jurisdiction; his family came from Meldolla in Romagna. He was probably living in Venice by the late 1530s where he died in 1563. He also produced etchings, one of which likewise showed the Christ Child and the infant Baptist, each supported by his kneeling mother.

Places

Subjects

statue (as Subject), sculpture (as Subject), book, devotional, biblical, Renaissance, baby, man, woman, elderly man, robe, family, son, mother, father, child, halo, New Testament, Jesus, saint, Madonna, column, pillar (architectural feature), alcove/niche

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Andrea Schiavone

Title

Virgin and Child, Infant St. John the Baptist and SS Zachariah, Elizabeth, Joseph, Catherine and a Female Saint

Date

Probably early 1550s

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 122.00 cm, width: 96.50 cm

Acquisition

Presented by Viscountess d'Abernon, November 1953

Provenance

Collection of Viscountess d'Abernon; by whom presented to the Ministry of Works for display in the British Embassy, Rome, in November 1953

GAC number

2282