Madonna of the Carnation

The Madonna of the Carnation is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, which was created at the end of the early Renaissance in Italy 1473-1478. The Youth of the universal genius is exhibited since 1889 in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, and is the only painting by da Vinci in a German museum.

The painting as such

The plant has the format 62.3 x 48.5 cm, it was shortened to the left by about 1.5 cm and the other side a few millimeters. Later, left and right made ​​Anstückelungen. A rear only recognizable plan was backed up.

Due to a strong curvature of the poplar wood panel, you have these shaved back. The oil paint has wrinkles, indicate a lack of knowledge of oil paints (after tax collector ). The use of oil- bound paints for painting at the time was still new. The Technique used is tempera and oil on poplar wood. The ornate, colorfully painted frame dates from the Renaissance period. The condition is good.

Motif

The picture shows a young Madonna with the Christ Child, a common motif in Christian art of the Middle Ages. The young woman stands behind a balustrade, the child Jesus sitting on the railing in an unnatural position and is held by the Madonna with one arm. Meanwhile, since elevated left leg points to the folds of golden yellow petticoat, which is a lemniscate ( figure eight ). This is a reference to the birth of Christ, cf fish (Christianity).

In the center a red carnation is shown, which is considered by the Madonna; however, the child looks to the sky. The carnation is mysteriously depicted in the shade, while the faces of the figures appearing in the light. The image has three depth levels: the foreground with the child, the area behind the people up to the windows and the countryside.

There are four windows in the background, which could indicate the four directions or the four elements. In the background a landscape is depicted with the horizon, where the mountains are slightly tilted to the left and right of the Madonna head to this.

The Christ child is well nourished and naked. The Madonna wears a valuable contemporary clothing with an oversized brooch, see Virgin of the Rocks. Whether a woman has been the model is unknown.

Informative

The Maria with the child is referred because of the carnation, which holds Mary in her hand, as Madonna with the Carnation. The image is an early work of Leonardo, which is probably still originated in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. The provenance of the Madonna with the Carnation ranges not far behind. Her oldest, proven repository is the pharmacy Wetzler in Günzburg an der Donau. How the painting came to Gunzburg, is not precisely known. Either it has been in the nearby monastery Burgau, or it is Auxilianus Urbani, an art collector, who in 1792 married into the Günzburger Pharmacy, has been brought back from Italy ( Möller 1937).

Josef Haug auctioned the painting in 1889 for only 22 marks out of the estate of the widow Therese Wetzler. He sold the painting in 1889 for 800 marks at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich - the then estimated price was 8,000 marks. After the acquisition of the Alte Pinakothek, the image was probably declared on the initiative by Bayer village, once as an autograph work of Leonardo. He identified it with the mentioned by Vasari Madonna with the carafe, which had been found around 1550 in the collection of Pope Clement VII. In a 1890 carried out image analysis Koopmann also came to the conclusion that the image from the Verrocchio 's workshop may have been painted only by Leonardo himself.

1906 took Reymond for Verrocchio himself in claim while Woldemar von Seidlitz was able in 1909 is to recognize only one image in the style of Verrocchio. Schmid tried (1893 ) Lorenzo di Credi the image to ascribe. He was left alone with the view. In contrast, represented Morelli (1886 ), Rieffel (1891 ), Thiis (1909 ) and Venturi (1909 ) even just the view that it is the image is a copy of a lost Leonardo work. But in 1925, revised venturi his former view, and now entered to ensure that it really is an authentic work of Leonardo. He was followed to date, most art historians. A drawing of Leonardo in the Louvre showing a head of the Madonna seems to confirm this attribution. Striking is the brooch that Mary is wearing in the picture and the one on the Dreyfus Madonna in Washington, DC (National Gallery of Art) and the Benois Madonna can see in St. Petersburg.

Details

Baby Jesus with carnation

Carnation

Vase

Right window column with landscape

Lemniscate

Cloak of the Madonna, which is thrown over the arm