Madonna and Child

The Barrymore Madonna shows a seated mother nursing the infant Christ, a theme known as the Madonna of the Milk. The Virgin, with light brown hair parted in the middle and gathered into a ponytail, wears a halo, in an intimate and simple scene that focuses on the act of nursing rather than on solemnity. It is dated to around 1508 and attributed to Antonio Allegri da Correggio, a young Italian Renaissance artist whose early work shows the influence of Mantegna.

The panel's history explains much of its interest. It has been known since the eighteenth century, when it was probably part of the collection of the Barry family in Cheshire. It was auctioned in London in 1933 as a work by Mantegna and, after passing through dealers, entered the collection of Samuel H. Kress, who gave it to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, where it hangs today.

Its authorship has been debated. Corrado Ricci reassigned it to Correggio in 1930, an attribution later accepted by Longhi and Quintavalle, but Cecil Gould questioned it in 1976, noting that Kress's inventories still regarded it as by Mantegna or his circle. It is therefore best read with caution.

Painter

Antonio da Correggio

Date

1508

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

56 × 41 cm

Museum

Samuel H. Kress Collection

Genre

religious art

Depicts

sitting, waist-length hair, part, Nursing Madonna, breastfeeding, boy, Mary, aureola

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