Madonna and Child
Location: Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
City: Coral Gables, FL
Artist: Lorenzo di Credi
Contents
Artist Biography
About the Painting
Related Links and Resources
References
Artist Biography
Lorenzo di Credi (1456-1535)
Lorenzo di Credi (1456-1535) was the son of a goldsmith who eventually became head of one of the largest painting workshops in Florence during the Renaissance. By the age of twenty Lorenzo di Credi was working in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488), where he acquired techniques and skills which helped him to form and develop his unique style of painting. Credi’s work shows subtle German and Flemish influences, as well as inspiration drawn from the early work of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).
While in Verrocchio’s workshop, Lorenzo created small panels featuring scenes of the Virgin and Child. Although the primary workshop focus was on sculpture, the studio also accepted orders for paintings. Following Verrocchio’s death in 1488, Lorenzo di Credi became head of the workshop and began to focus on smaller religious paintings and portraits. His paintings are often characterized by the use full-bodied flesh tones and exaggerated curves.
Lorenzo di Credi’s early works include his Madonna di Piazza for the Pistoia Cathedral, and his Annunciation and Adoration of the Shepherds, now in the Uffizi Gallery. The artist also began to accept commissions for portraits as evidenced by his Portrait of a Young Man and Portrait of a Woman, both dated around 1500, also housed in the Uffizi Gallery. Lorenzo di Credi quickly became a respected painter and attracted a number of pupils including Giovanni Antonio Sogliani and Antonio sel Ceraiolo.
About the Painting
Lorenzo di Credi’s Madonna and Child was owned by Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi (1878-1955) until it was sold to Samuel H. Kress on September 16th, 1938. The work was then gifted in 1961 to the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami where it remains today.
Typical of other religious compositions by Lorenzo di Credi, the figures of the Madonna and Child are prominently depicted in the foreground. The Madonna’s veil was beautifully painted using transparent glazes of white while her robe was executed using paints rich in red lake and deep, blue azurite. Lorenzo di Credi’s beautiful manipulation of the oil medium is evident in the rendering of jewelry and clothing, another characteristic encountered in pupils who trained in Verrocchio’s workshop. In many of Lorenzo di Credi’s religious works, the Madonna and Child are featured larger than life-size, centered in the foreground against a background depicting a peaceful landscape.
Despite a few minor losses in the panel support (from woodworm damage), the work has been in fairly good condition since it was acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in 1938. In 1939 the panel was cradled, and varnished with dammar and subsequently cleaned again in 1961 to remove the discolored natural resin varnish.
Related Links and Resources
“Lorenzo di Credi (Lorenzo d’Andrea d’Oderigo).” J. Paul Getty Museum Collection Database.
References
Degenhart, B. “Drawings by Lorenzo Di Credi.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 57, no. 328 (1930): 10-15. http://www.jstor.org/stable/864384.
Dunkerton, Jill, and Luke Syson. “In Search of Verrocchio the Painter: The Cleaning and Examination of The Virgin and Child with Two Angels.” National Gallery Technical Bulletin 31 (2010): 4-41.
“Lorenzo di Credi.” The National Gallery. (Accessed June 1, 2015)
“Lorenzo di Credi: Biography: Virtual Uffizi.” Virtual Uffizi Gallery. (Accessed June 1, 2015)