DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61022#0055
THE MADONNAS
by the majority of critics to his masters Perugino and Pin-
turicchio. The best authenticated, and probably the latest of this
group of pictures is the i Madonna Connestabile,’ which is now at
St. Petersburg (Plate xvi.), a little, circular painting of the
Madonna and Child set within spandrils with an ornamental
pattern.1 In this the head of the Virgin forms a stepping-stone
between those in the 4 Coronation ’ and the ‘ Ansidei Madonna ’;
the infant closely resembles that in the latter picture, while the
exquisite painting of the little hand upon her breast recalls the
subtlety and tenderness of the 4 Presentation ’ predella and the
4 Sposalizio.’ The left hand of the 4 Connestabile Madonna,’ while
both it and the right have long and bony fingers, does not exhibit
the characteristic affectation, already observed in the 4 St.
Sebastian,’ of a little finger raised in clasping above the level of
the others. This may be due to the fact that as originally
designed the left hand held an apple and not a book, but, apart
from this, it is characteristic of a greater simplicity in the lines
and attitude of the figure than belongs as a rule to Peruginesque
paintings. The affectation is strongly marked in two of the
three other Madonnas of this period attributed to Raphael in the
Kaiser Friedrich Museum at Berlin. In one of these, the 4 Solly
Madonna’ (Plate xvn.), it is associated with a more rounded face,
and more definite and symmetrical features than those of the
Madonna of St. Petersburg; in the other, the 4 Madonna Diota-
levi ’ (Plate xviii.), with a long and gaunt figure whose face, in its
broken curves and elongated ill-fitting features, is an exaggeration,
almost a caricature, of the type.2 * The two Infants in this latter
picture closely resemble those in the 4 Madonna di Sant’ Antonio,’
and further resemblances occur between that picture and the
third of the Berlin pictures, the 4 Madonna and two Saints ’
1 The pedigree of this picture is less perfect than it is often represented. It has no
certain connection with Domenico Alfani, Raphael’s friend, and it is referred to in the
documents as anonymous, by Perugino and by Raphael indifferently. {Giomale d’ Erudizione
Artistica Per., vi. 77 and 321).
2 A further caricature with Michelangelesque variations in Milan, Castello, 250.
B.-s 33
by the majority of critics to his masters Perugino and Pin-
turicchio. The best authenticated, and probably the latest of this
group of pictures is the i Madonna Connestabile,’ which is now at
St. Petersburg (Plate xvi.), a little, circular painting of the
Madonna and Child set within spandrils with an ornamental
pattern.1 In this the head of the Virgin forms a stepping-stone
between those in the 4 Coronation ’ and the ‘ Ansidei Madonna ’;
the infant closely resembles that in the latter picture, while the
exquisite painting of the little hand upon her breast recalls the
subtlety and tenderness of the 4 Presentation ’ predella and the
4 Sposalizio.’ The left hand of the 4 Connestabile Madonna,’ while
both it and the right have long and bony fingers, does not exhibit
the characteristic affectation, already observed in the 4 St.
Sebastian,’ of a little finger raised in clasping above the level of
the others. This may be due to the fact that as originally
designed the left hand held an apple and not a book, but, apart
from this, it is characteristic of a greater simplicity in the lines
and attitude of the figure than belongs as a rule to Peruginesque
paintings. The affectation is strongly marked in two of the
three other Madonnas of this period attributed to Raphael in the
Kaiser Friedrich Museum at Berlin. In one of these, the 4 Solly
Madonna’ (Plate xvn.), it is associated with a more rounded face,
and more definite and symmetrical features than those of the
Madonna of St. Petersburg; in the other, the 4 Madonna Diota-
levi ’ (Plate xviii.), with a long and gaunt figure whose face, in its
broken curves and elongated ill-fitting features, is an exaggeration,
almost a caricature, of the type.2 * The two Infants in this latter
picture closely resemble those in the 4 Madonna di Sant’ Antonio,’
and further resemblances occur between that picture and the
third of the Berlin pictures, the 4 Madonna and two Saints ’
1 The pedigree of this picture is less perfect than it is often represented. It has no
certain connection with Domenico Alfani, Raphael’s friend, and it is referred to in the
documents as anonymous, by Perugino and by Raphael indifferently. {Giomale d’ Erudizione
Artistica Per., vi. 77 and 321).
2 A further caricature with Michelangelesque variations in Milan, Castello, 250.
B.-s 33