The Piazza Madonna (Italian - ''Madonna di Piazza'') is a tempera on panel painting, dating to 1474-1486 and held in
Pistoia Cathedral
Pistoia Cathedral, or Cathedral of Saint Zeno ( it, Duomo di Pistoia or ''Cattedrale di San Zeno'') is the main religious building of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy, located in the ''Piazza del Duomo'' in the centre of the city. It is the seat o ...
.
It was commissioned from
Andrea del Verrocchio
Andrea del Verrocchio (, , ; – 1488), born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was a sculptor, Italian painter and goldsmith who was a master of an important workshop in Florence. He apparently became known as ''Verrocchio'' after the su ...
in 1474 as an altarpiece for the oratory of the Madonna di Piazza (the "Virgin of the Square"). It was intended to commemorate bishop
Donato de' Medici, whose name saint
Donatus of Fiesole
Donatus of Fiesole (died 876) was an Irish teacher and poet, and Bishop of Fiesole.
Biography
Donatus was born in Ireland to noble parents towards the end of the eighth century. Despite there being little biographical detail in the tenth/el ...
stands to the right, with Florence's patron saint
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
to the left. It was painted in two parts, with heavy involvement from Verrochio's studio assistants, particularly
Lorenzo di Credi
Lorenzo di Credi (1456/59 – January 12, 1537) was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor best known for his paintings of religious subjects. He is most famous for having worked in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio at the same time a ...
. The first part was finished in 1479, but the second phase was postponed until 1485 thanks to delays in payment. The painting was finally completed in 1486.
18th century local historians attributed the work to
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
, based on a note made by the artist on a folio now in the
Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...
which records that in the month of "...bre" 1478 he began "two Virgin Maries", one of which is usually identified as the
Garofano Madonna. Today Leonardo, twenty-two in 1474, is thought to have had no involvement in the painting of the ''Piazza Madonna'' beyond one compartment of the
predella
In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...
which corresponds to an autograph drawing of a head of the Virgin by him -
that panel is now in the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
and the drawing is no. 438 E in the Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe of the Uffizi.
The painting originally had a predella, whose panels are now dispersed among several museums. Credi's
''St Donatus and the Tax Collector'' (
Worcester Art Museum
The Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 38,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day and representing cultures from all over the world. WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and ranks among th ...
) is identified as one of them,
[{{cite web, url=http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/European/1940.29.html, title=Miracle of St Donatus] whilst
Perugino
Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil.
Ear ...
's ''
Birth of the Virgin Mary'' and ''
Miracle of the Snow'' are both also sometimes thought to have been part of this predella
References
1470s paintings
1480s paintings
Paintings depicting John the Baptist
Paintings of the Madonna and Child
