The ''Wimborne Madonna'', also known as the ''Madonna del Latte'' ("Madonna of the milk") or '' La Vierge allaitant l'Enfant avec huit anges musiciens'' ("Virgin nursing the Child with eight angel musicians"), is an oil painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Marco Zoppo, dated to 1455. It was owned by

Lord Wimborne Viscount Wimborne, of Canford Magna in the County of Dorset, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1918 for Ivor Guest, 2nd Baron Wimborne. The Guest family descends from the engineer and businessm ...

and displayed at Canford Manor in the 19th century, and has been held by 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 ...

in Paris since 1980. The work measures {{cvt, 89, x, 72, cm, in. It was painted on a wooden board and transferred to canvas in the 18th century. The artist's signature, on a ''

cartellino A ''cartellino'' (Italian for "small piece of paper"In modern Italian, ''carta'' means "paper", the diminutive ''cartello'' means "sign", and the double diminutive ''cartellino'' means "tag".) is an illusionistic portrayal of a written note inc ...

'' to the left at the bottom of the painting, indicates the work was made in 1455 when Marco Zoppo was working in the workshop of

Francesco Squarcione Francesco Squarcione (''c.'' 1395 – after 1468) was an Italian artist from Padua. His pupils included Andrea Mantegna (with whom he had many legal battles), Cosimo Tura and Carlo Crivelli. There are only two works signed by him: the ''Mad ...

in Padua: "OPERA DEL ZOPPO DI SQUARCIONE". A second ''cartellino'' to the right is not legible. The painting depicts the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

nursing the

Christ Child The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. The four canonical gospels, a ...

. Mary is standing behind a marble parapet and in front of an elaborate marble niche decorated with garlands of fruits and leaves. She is wearing a red dress with blue cloak, and a white headcovering with a crown. She is holds the infant Jesus up in her arms, with the baby stooping to suckle from her uncovered right breast. On the marble ledge in front of the central pair are a pile of books and a pear, and to either sides are groups of cherubs playing musical instruments, with two cherubs reaching up to the garlands. In the background to either side are views of a landscape and a sky with scattered clouds. The painting may have been made for the Dardini family, based in Venice but also established in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

and

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, whose coat of arms is depicted at each end of the parapet. It was in the Palazzo Manfrin in the 19th century, from where it was acquired in 1868 by Sir Ivor Bertie Guest, 2nd Baronet (later 1st

Baron Wimborne Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

) and displayed at Canford Manor. It was sold by his descendants in 1980, and acquired by the Louvre.

References

La Vierge allaitant l'Enfant avec huit anges musiciens, 1455
Louvre 1455 paintings Renaissance paintings Paintings of the Madonna and Child Paintings in the Louvre by Italian artists

See also

References