Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio Lot n° 910

RIDOLFO DEL GHIRLANDAIO Florence 1483 - Florence 1561 attributed Title: Madonna with Child. Technique: Oil on wood. Mounting: Parquetted. Measurement: 76 x 60cm. Frame/Pedestal: Framed. Provenance: The painting is mentioned in the "Verzeichniss der gräflich von Eckartschen Malereiensammlung zu dem 2. Fideicomiß auf Leonberg" of 24 July 1826 under number 82 as "Eine Madonna mit dem Kind von Andreas del Sarto"; since then in family ownership. Ridolfo Bigordi, known as Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, was born in Florence in 1483 and received his artistic training from his uncle David, who was also an artist and brother of the more famous Domenico del Ghirlandaio. Very early on, the young Ridolfo excelled in painting. He quickly developed his skills and practised on cartoons by Michelangelo and Leonardo in the Palazzo Vecchio. He then became friends with Fra Bartolomeo and especially Raffaello "Raphael" Sanzio during his stay in Florence (ca. 1504-1508), so that the latter gave him one of his works intended for Sienese patrons to complete. According to some art historians, this can be identified with the "Madonna Colonna" (Berlin, Gemäldegalerie), according to others with the "Belle Jardinière" (Paris, Louvre). Ridolfo's first secure work is the altarpiece with the Assumption of the Virgin, commissioned from him and his uncle David by Prato Cathedral in 1507, but certainly executed in its entirety by his nephew and completed in the spring of 1509. The first works clearly show a decisive inclination on the part of the artist towards the pictorial forms and elements of the 14th century. The increasing influence of Raphael can also be seen, especially in the style of colouring and drawing. The study of Raphael's works and the close relationship with him are also reflected in some portraits painted between the end of the first decade and the beginning of the second: The stylistic proximity is so great that some of Raphael's works were attributed to Ridolfo himself in the last century. In addition, reworkings or copies by Ridolfo of works executed by Raphael in the Florentine period are known, for example the "Madonna Colonna" mentioned above. In 1513 Bigordi began his long and intensive activity for the Signoria of Florence: the artist was mainly commissioned as a decorator of numerous sets and stage designs for ceremonies and theatre performances on the occasion of solemn events connected with the life of the city. Until 1540, the artist expanded this activity with altarpieces and devotional paintings, probably with the help of a workshop. In 1521 he executed the "Pietà with Saints Nicholas, John the Baptist, Jerome and Mary Magdalene" for Mario di Niccolò Beltramini in the church of Sant' Agostino in Colle Val d'Elsa. One of his greatest works, the "Enthroned Madonna with Saints" painted for San Pier Maggiore in Pistoia, dates from 1528. According to the artist biographer Giorgio Vasari, the painter's activity became increasingly rare from the end of the fourth decade of the 16th century, due to an increase in ailments, mainly triggered by gout. Among his last decorations mentioned by Vasari are those in the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli. For further reading click here. We are grateful to Matteo Gianeselli, Paris, for confirming the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph.     Estimated shipping costs for this lot: Arrangement after the auction.