Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520), Copia antica, After - Madonna del Divino Amore

17th century, after Raphael Sanzio
Madonna of Divine Love
Oil on canvas, 108 x 141 cm
Framed, 127 x 149 cm

The work in question, datable to the 17th century, draws on the celebrated Madonna of Divine Love by Raphael Sanzio (Urbino, 1483 – Rome, 1520), an oil painting on wood panel created with the involvement of several pupils from his workshop around 1516–1518. It is currently held at the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples, where it forms part of the prestigious Farnese Collection, attesting to its acquisition by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese the Younger in 1564.
According to historical sources, particularly Giorgio Vasari’s Lives, the painting was made for Leonello Pio da Carpi, Lord of Meldola. This commission is emblematic of the success achieved by the artist from Urbino, whose works were sought after by the most influential families of the time. Its present title, Madonna of Divine Love, was only given to it in 1824, in reference to the publication of a lithograph reproducing Raphael’s Madonna in Friedrich Rehberg’s German volume Rafael Sanzio aus Urbino, which emphasized the central importance of charity and spiritual and maternal love in the composition.
The work is based on the iconographic scheme of the Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the young Saint John the Baptist, a type Raphael had already explored successfully (see, for example, the Canigiani Holy Family at the Alte Pinakothek), and here brought to the height of synthesis. The composition, built around a typically Renaissance pyramidal arrangement, shows the five figures gathered in a dark, solemn, classically inspired architectural setting, with an opening in the background revealing a barely sketched landscape. The Virgin Mary, seated in the left foreground with her hands clasped in tender contemplation, supports the Christ Child on her lap. The Child reaches out in a dynamic, blessing gesture toward the young Saint John, who kneels on the left, offering his processional cross—a symbol of Christ’s future sacrifice—in a gesture of prophetic prayer or offering. The interaction between the children, with the cross as its visual focal point, gives the painting an intimate theological meaning: the meeting of the cousins anticipates and symbolizes Christ’s future sacrifice and Passion. Behind this central group appears the elderly Saint Elizabeth, who, intent on supporting the Child, creates a compositional triangle with her presence, lending the scene an added layer of emotional depth. Finally, the artist also shows us a more discreet Saint Joseph, standing in the background, almost hidden, observing the scene through an architectural opening and emphasizing his role as the silent guardian and witness to the divine mystery. In the painting presented here, the use of an intense color palette—in particular, the Virgin’s vivid pink mantle, the rich blue of her garments, and the earthy tones of the older figures—and the handling of light, which highlights the children’s soft flesh tones and the expressive faces, suggest a 17th-century date, perhaps within the context of Italian devotional painting or a regional school influenced by the great masters of the 16th century, despite the work’s full adherence to Raphael’s formal harmony. Beyond its high stylistic quality, the work stands out for its intense emotional charge: the gazes and gestures, particularly those of Saint Elizabeth and Saint Joseph in the background, suggest a meditation on the fate of the two children, introducing an element of solitude and awareness of divine sacrifice into an otherwise serene atmosphere. Ultimately, the work is a significant example of the revival of Raphael’s Roman painting, combining the formal perfection of Classicism with a growing sensitivity to emotional storytelling and monumental forms.

The frame is provided free of charge and therefore cannot be grounds for a return or claim.

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