Madonna of the Magnificat

Madonna of the Magnificat
Artist Sandro Botticelli
Year 1481
Type Tempera
Dimensions 118 cm × 119 cm (46 in × 47 in)
Location Uffizi, Florence

The Madonna of the Magnificat, Italian: Madonna del Magnificat, is a painting of circular or tondo form by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli. It is now in the galleries of the Uffizi, in Florence.

The work portrays the Virgin Mary crowned by two angels. She is writing the opening of the Magnificat on the right-hand page of a book; on the left page is part of the Benedictus. In her left hand she holds a pomegranate.[1]

History

The history of the painting is not known. It was acquired by the Uffizi in 1785 from Ottavio Magherini.[2] It may have come from one of the many monasteries suppressed by the Archduke Pietro Leopoldo. It has been identified with the tondo in the church of San Francesco al Monte mentioned by Vasari and Bocchi, but the description does not coincide and this identification is usually rejected. There are several copies of the painting, including one in the Louvre, one in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York.[3]

References

  1. Susan Schibanoff (March 1994). "Botticelli's Madonna del Magnificat: Constructing the Woman Writer in Early Humanist Italy". PMLA 109(2): 190-206. (subscription required)
  2. N. Inv. 1609: Filipepi Alessandro detto Botticelli, bibliografia. Centro di Documentazione, Polo Museale Fiorentino. (Italian) Accessed May 2013.
  3. N. Cat. 00188562: Botticelli; Madonna con Bambino e angeli. Centro di Documentazione, Polo Museale Fiorentino. (Italian) Accessed May 2013.


External links

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