Bottega toscana dell' ultimo terzo del '400

Relief – Stucco and polychrome papier-mâché, Tuscan workshop, circa 1480 – 1490. This relief is thought to be part of a group of stucco and papier-mâché casts from a work by Benedetto da Maiano, likely identifiable with the marble relief now belonging to the National Gallery of Art in Washington (see comparison with this work in the last photo). Two other similar works, but in stucco casts only, are kept at the Spedale degli Innocenti and the Bardini Museum in Florence. A further, very similar work was sold at auction in Rome a century ago (Jandolo e Tavazzi 25 April-3 May 1910, no. 290) and is now also exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington (USA). Another related work belonging to a private collection is exhibited at the Casa de Rodis, in Domodossola (Italy). The genius of Benedetto da Maiano is spontaneous and universal. The workmanship of this polychrome papier-mâché statue, especially in the faces of the Madonna and Child, testifies to the likely attribution to the workshop of the great master, who produced, like other Tuscan workshops of the period such as that of Donatello, works that were less expensive compare to the marble models. This was to cater to a less wealthy clientele. Also, the use of the pigment azurite (a natural pigment in use until the 18th century) instead of the more expensive lapis lazuli or ultramarine blue (which would not have turned green as in our work), supports this reconstruction. Also from a stylistic point of view, the work is typically from the fifteenth century, as then, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the taste in the vision and sacred representation of the Madonna with Child changes completely. The frame is in worked wood with projecting moldings and appears original with signs of later integrations. The work is in original condition without restoration interventions or other alterations, it retains the original polychromy. It presents patina and signs of time consistent with antiquity. Measures cm. 61 x 70 including the frame. NOTES: Other similar stuccos from the same workshop, in addition to those mentioned, are kept in the Civic Museum of Prato, in the Oratory of the Goose in Siena and in the Museum of the Opera del Duomo in Perugia. (Bibliography on the subject D. Carl, “Benedetto da Maiano. A Florentine Sculptor at the Threshold of the High Renaissance”, Turnhout 2006, G. Gentilini, Civic Museum of Prato. “The art collections, edited by M.P. Mannini” ; R. Kecks “Eine Bilderfindung Botticellis in der Werkstatt des Benedetto da Maiano”, Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz). In compliance with the provisions of the New Code of Cultural Heritage, the selling company provides at the time of sale a detailed written photographic guarantee of originality and provenance of the works sold. The data with which the works are described and then contained in the written guarantees are expressed determinations resulting from accurate, in-depth and documented technical / historical / artistic investigations.