Small Cowper Madonna

Small Cowper Madonna

Artist	Raphael
Year	1505
Medium	Oil on panel
Dimensions	59.5 cm × 44 cm (23.4 in × 17 in)
Location	National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

The Small Cowper Madonna is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael, depicting Mary and Child, in a typical Italian countryside. It has been dated to around 1505,^[1] the middle of the High Renaissance.

Story

It is not known exactly why the Small Cowper Madonna was painted. It was probably either a private commission ^[2] or for the general art market; images of the Madonna and Child were often given as wedding presents.^[3] It is widely thought that the church on the right hand side of the painting is the church of San Bernardino,^[4] where the Dukes of Urbino (where Raphael was born^[5]) were buried, and it has been suggested that the presence of the church means the painting may have been "commissioned by the family for devotional purposes."^[6] At the same time, it could just be Raphael drawing on memories of the church, which would have been near where he grew up in Urbino.

Description

Sitting in the center of the work in a bright red dress is the Madonna. She is fair skinned with blonde hair. She sits comfortably on a wooden bench. Across her lap is a dark drapery upon which her right hand delicately sits. There appears to be a sheer translucent ribbon elegantly flowing across the top of her dress and behind her head. The faintest golden halo miraculously surrounds her head. In her left hand she holds the baby Christ, who embraces her with one arm around her back, the other around her neck. He, an undeniably precious child, looks back over his shoulder with a coy smile. Behind them, a beautifully clear and bright day unfolds. Off in the distance two figures appear to be ambling toward a reflective pond, enjoying the green scenery around them. A large and very impressing structure stands at the end of a long path, which one could presume to be a Catholic church. Its dome and other structural elements common of Catholic architecture add to the already omnipresent atmosphere of religious divinity and grace.

2015 Exhibition

In 2015 the National Gallery of Art loaned the Small Cowper Madonna to the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts (U.S.) to be exhibited alongside The Virgin and Child (The Northbrook Madonna). The Northbrook Madonna is in the Worcester Art Museum's permanent collection and was once attributed to Raphael.^[7] One hope of the exhibition was to identify the Master of the Northbrook Madonna.^[8]

References

↑ https://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg20/gg20-1196.html
↑ https://keephistoryalive.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/art-history-wednesday-the-small-cowper-madonna/
↑ https://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg20/gg20-1196.html
↑ https://keephistoryalive.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/art-history-wednesday-the-small-cowper-madonna/
↑ http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/raphael
↑ https://keephistoryalive.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/art-history-wednesday-the-small-cowper-madonna/
↑ "Raphael: The Cowper Madonna". Worcester Art Museum. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
↑ Sheehan, Nancy (25 January 2015). "Worcester Art Museum hopes to shed light on Raphael Madonna mystery". Worcester Telegram. Retrieved 27 June 2015.

External links

Raphael

Early works	The Kinnaird Resurrection Baronci Altarpiece St. Sebastian Oddi Altar Solly Madonna Mond Crucifixion Three Graces St Michael Portrait of a Man Connestabile Madonna Madonna and Child The Marriage of the Virgin Vision of a Knight St George Colonna Altarpiece Portrait of Perugino ¹ Madonna and Child with the Book

Florentine period	Portrait of Elisabetta Gonzaga ² Portrait of Emilia Pia da Montefeltro ² Portrait of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro Self-portrait Madonna of the Grand Duke Ansidei Madonna Young Man with an Apple Christ Blessing Madonna Terranuova Madonna of the Goldfinch Madonna of the Meadow Esterhazy Madonna Small Cowper Madonna St George and the Dragon La donna gravida Portrait of Agnolo Doni Portrait of Maddalena Doni Madonna of the Pinks Young Woman with Unicorn Madonna with Beardless St Joseph Saint Catherine of Alexandria Canigiani Holy Family La belle jardinière Deposition of Christ Portrait of a Young Woman Tempi Madonna Madonna Colonna Madonna de Bogota

Roman period	Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese La disputa The School of Athens Madonna of Loreto Aldobrandini Madonna Madonna with the Blue Diadem Portrait of a Cardinal Alba Madonna Niccolini-Cowper Madonna The Parnassus Cardinal and Theological Virtues The Prophet Isaiah The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple Portrait of Pope Julius II Madonna of Foligno Madonna with the Fish Triumph of Galatea Sistine Madonna Madonna della seggiola Madonna dell'Impannata Madonna della tenda The Fire in the Borgo The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila Deliverance of Saint Peter The Mass at Bolsena Portrait of Bindo Altoviti The Sibyls Ecstasy of St. Cecilia Portrait of Balthasar Castiglione La donna velata Portrait of Tommaso Inghirami Palazzo Branconio dell'Aquila Portrait of Andrea Navagero and Agostino Beazzano Portrait of Cardinal Bibbiena Church of Sant'Eligio degli Orefici Creation of the World Transfiguration Portrait of Pope Leo X with Two Cardinals Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary The Holy Family of Francis I Ezekiel's Vision St. Michael Vanquishing Satan Madonna of the Rose Self-portrait with a friend La fornarina Visitation Portrait of a Young Man Miraculous Draught of Fishes Christ's Charge to Peter Healing of the Lame Man Death of Ananias Stoning of St. Stephen Conversion of the Proconsul Sacrifice at Lystra St Paul in Prison St Paul Preaching in Athens Palazzo Jacopo da Brescia

¹ Also attributed to Lorenzo di Credi ² Attributed

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