The ''Madonna of the Basket'' or the ''Madonna della Cesta'' is a painting of by
Antonio da Correggio
Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...
in the
National Gallery, London. While it is a
Mannerist painting of the Virgin Mary and the
Baby Jesus, Correggio included naturalist touches in his composition, like the sewing basket that gives the painting its name.
History
This small painting, intended for private devotion, was enthusiastically mentioned in
Giorgio Vasari's ''Le Vite'': "Beautiful to admire, by the hand of
Correggio, in which Our Lady places a chemise over Baby Jesus." Its provenance is mentioned by Vasari as entering Parma in the first half of the 1500s, brought by French knight
Chevalier de Bayard
Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (c. 1476 – 30 April 1524) was a French knight and military leader at the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, generally known as the Chevalier de Bayard. Throughout the centuries since his ...
, a client of
Parmigianino and an art collector of the time.
Probably thanks to this approving mention, the work was appreciated by the bishop
Federico Borromeo, who wished for a copy for his Milan collection and entrusted the task to an illuminator
Gerolamo Marchesini
Gerolamo is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Gerolamo Cardano (1501–1576), Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler
* Gerolamo Emiliani (1486–1537), Italian humanitarian, founder of the Somaschi ...
. For similar reasons,
Diana Scultori
Diana Scultori (also known as Diana Mantuana and Diana Ghisi; 1547 – 5 April 1612) was an Italian engraver from Mantua, Italy. She is one of the earliest known women printmakers, making mostly reproductive engravings of well-known paintings or ...
in Rome around 1577 created an engraving copy that contributed to the diffusion of the painting's fame. Also from Rome,
Federico Barocci created a copy similar to the ''Madonna Albani''.
Description and style
Corregio had been attempting to find a less intellectual, artificial style than his contemporary
Mannerists—he wanted to find a way of expressing religious art with a fresh and persuasive naturalism. Representing a young Mary, almost adolescent, that has just put down her sewing tools, Correggio places a religious story in the simple frame of everyday life.
The fulcrum of the painting is represented in the affectionate rapport that links Marie and the Baby Jesus; she is trying to dress him with the blue shirt she has just finished sewing. The sewing basket with scissors, clearly visible, opens the painting on the left and gives the symbolic painting a realistic effect. Mary evidently prepared for Jesus a double vestment, which might symbolize his dual nature of humanity and divinity. Jesus' composition hints at his fate. His arms are outstretched in a cross, while his right hand gives a
benediction with three raised fingers a symbol of the
Trinity.
The background, where there is a glimpse of Saint Joseph, can be compared to Northern European works, particularly an
Dürer engraving that Correggio might have known, ''The Rest during the Flight to Egypt''.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/correggio-the-madonna-of-the-basket
{{Antonio da Correggio
1524 paintings
Basket
category:Collections of the National Gallery, London
Mannerist paintings