The Madonna of the Pinks (La Madonna dei Garofani)

Details

Follower of Raffaello Sanzio, called Raphael
The Madonna of the Pinks (La Madonna dei Garofani)
oil on panel
11¼ x 9 in. (28.6 x 22.8 cm.)

Provenance

Cardinal Spada, by 1696, and by descent to
Counts Cesare and Francesco Spada, Lucca, by 1847, and by descent to
Count Cesare Spada, by 1927.
with French and Company, New York.
Acquired by the Countess Nadia de Navarro, Glen Head, New York, prior to 1964.

Literature

J.D. Passavant, Rafael von Urbino und sein Vater Giovanni Santi, Leipzig, 1858, III, p. 99, as Circle of Raphael.
J.A. Crowe and B. G. Cavalcaselle, Raphael: His Life and Works, London, 1882, I, pp. 343-4, as Studio of Raphael.
A. Rosenberg, Raffael: des Meisters Gemälde in 203 Abbildungen, Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1906, p. 28, as Raphael.
S. de Ricci, Description Raisonnee des Peintures du Louvre. I. Écoles étrangères Italie et Espagne, Paris, 1913, p. 138, no. 1513B.1.
A. Rosenberg, Raffael, Stuttgart and Berlin, 1922, p. 250, as Raphael.
W. Suida, Raphael, 2nd edition, London, 1948, p. 7, as Raphael.
N. di Carpegna, Catalogo della Galleria Nazionale, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, 1953, p. 20, fig 58.
G. Gamulin, "Una copia della Madonna del Garofano", Commentari Rivistia di Critica e Storia dell'Arte, IX, 1958, p. 161.
L. Dussler, Raffael: Kritisches Verzeichnis der Gemälde, Wandbilder und Bildteppiche, Munich, 1966, pp. 53-4, no. 93.
L. Dussler, Raphael. A critical catalogue of his pictures, wall-paintings and tapestries, New York and London, 1971, p. 63.
N. Penny, "Raphael's `Madonna dei Garofani' Rediscovered", Burlington Magazine, CXXXIV, 1992, p. 81.
J. Meyer zur Capellen, Raphael. The Paintings, Landshut, 2001, I, p. 212, no. 25/II.17.
I. Schade-Schlieder, Die Kopien der "Madonna mit der Nelke" von Raffael, Ph.D. dissertation, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, 2009, pp. 208-212, no. 26.

Exhibited

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Arte Europea da una Collezione Americana, March-April 1964, no. 4, as 'Raffaello' (catalogue by R. De Grada).

Lot Essay

Raphael’s Madonna of the Pinks is one of the artist’s most famous compositions, known from numerous 16th and 17th century copies. The version formerly in the Camuccini collection in Rome and later in the collection of the Duke of Northumberland (today National Gallery, London, NG6596), has recently been identified as the original work by Raphael. Alongside the Northumberland painting, the present work from Conte Luigi Spada’s collection has traditionally been understood to be amongst the finest surviving examples. In the early 20th century, Adolfo Venturi, Gustav Gluck, Wilhelm Suida, Antonio Morassi and Antonio Porcella all considered the present work to be by the hand of Raphael himself (written communication, cited in R. De Grada, op. cit., p. 8).

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