THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ADORED BY A VENETIAN PATRICIAN, full page miniature from a Dogale, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Venice, c.1540]210 x 146mm. Before a green hanging, the Virgin seated on a sphinx throne supporting the naked Child, who blesses a nobleman at three-quarter length with his hand on his breast, in a fictive frame in shell gold with lionmask cornerpieces, surrounded by a full border of quasi-sculptural figures on plinths or framed in cartouches, including God the Father, Saints Nicholas and Jerome and an allegorical female figure, possibly the personification of a city, holding the arms per fess, azure and argent, a cross gules, in the corners figures in camaïeu bleu (slight rubbing, few small paint losses, some cockling, trimmed to border). Framed. The lavish antique decorative surround is of the kind favoured by Giulio Clovio whose name has been added to the blank reverse. The miniature is undoubtedly Venetian in origin -- it comes from a Dogale, an official commission to a new office holder issued in the name of the Doge of Venice. The robes of the kneeling man suggest that he has been appointed podestà or governor of one of Venice's dependent towns. The shield may be that of the territory or of the new podestà . His carefully observed face and minutely detailed hair and beard contrast with the elegantly idealised figure of the Virgin. Her elevated position against a large column and his curtailed figure owe something to Titian's great Madonna of Ca'Pesaro in the Venetian church of the Frari. The following document would have listed the office's powers and responsibilities: the miniature emphasises both the importance of the office holder and his need of divine protection.
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ADORED BY A VENETIAN PATRICIAN, full page miniature from a Dogale, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Venice, c.1540]210 x 146mm. Before a green hanging, the Virgin seated on a sphinx throne supporting the naked Child, who blesses a nobleman at three-quarter length with his hand on his breast, in a fictive frame in shell gold with lionmask cornerpieces, surrounded by a full border of quasi-sculptural figures on plinths or framed in cartouches, including God the Father, Saints Nicholas and Jerome and an allegorical female figure, possibly the personification of a city, holding the arms per fess, azure and argent, a cross gules, in the corners figures in camaïeu bleu (slight rubbing, few small paint losses, some cockling, trimmed to border). Framed. The lavish antique decorative surround is of the kind favoured by Giulio Clovio whose name has been added to the blank reverse. The miniature is undoubtedly Venetian in origin -- it comes from a Dogale, an official commission to a new office holder issued in the name of the Doge of Venice. The robes of the kneeling man suggest that he has been appointed podestà or governor of one of Venice's dependent towns. The shield may be that of the territory or of the new podestà . His carefully observed face and minutely detailed hair and beard contrast with the elegantly idealised figure of the Virgin. Her elevated position against a large column and his curtailed figure owe something to Titian's great Madonna of Ca'Pesaro in the Venetian church of the Frari. The following document would have listed the office's powers and responsibilities: the miniature emphasises both the importance of the office holder and his need of divine protection.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
