European school (XX) - NO RESERVE ✦ Madonna della Sedia, after Raphael (1483-1520)

✦ NO RESERVE ✦ RATED EXCELLENT ✦ LARGE FORMAT

A charming 1920s copy after Raphael’s celebrated Madonna della Seggiola, painted circa 1513–1514 and now preserved in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence. The original is among Raphael’s most admired Madonnas, depicting the Virgin tenderly embracing the Christ Child, with the young Saint John the Baptist appearing behind them. Its intimate, circular composition—known as a tondo—allows the figures to fill the picture plane, creating an unusually immediate and human expression of maternal affection.

The present work faithfully follows Raphael’s characteristic arrangement, including the Virgin’s striped headdress, richly coloured garments and the distinctive embrace of mother and child. The original’s warm palette, naturalistic treatment and closely interlocking figures exemplify Raphael’s mature Roman style, developed during the period in which he was simultaneously undertaking his celebrated Vatican commissions.

Raphael (1483–1520), one of the central masters of the High Renaissance, was celebrated in his own lifetime for the harmony, grace and clarity of his compositions. His Madonna della Seggiola proved particularly influential: the image was copied and reproduced repeatedly over subsequent centuries and became one of the most recognisable compositions in the Raphael tradition.

A charming circa-1920s revival of one of the most enduring images of Renaissance motherhood, executed in oil on paper and subsequently marouflaged onto canvas.

⦿ Signed lower right: B.S.
⦿ Dimensions (approx.): 75 x 75 cm (artwork.
⦿ Condition: FAIR. Exhibits an authentic patina of age (see pictures). Paper marouflaged on canvas.
⦿ Estimated Period: 1920s
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