Pazzi Madonna
The Pazzi Madonna is a rectangular "stiacciato" marble relief sculpture by Donatello, now in the sculpture collections of the Bode-Museum in Berlin.[1][2] Dating to around 1425-1430, it was probably originally produced for private devotion in the Palazzo Pazzi della Congiura in Florence at the beginning of Donatello's collaboration with Michelozzo.[3] It was extremely popular and is known in several copies.
The Pazzi Madonna | |
---|---|
Artist | Donatello |
Year | 1425 - 1430 |
Medium | marble relief sculpture |
Dimensions | 74,5 cm × 69,5 cm (29,3 in × 27,3 in) |
Location | Bode-Museum, Berlin |
The Virgin Mary is shown three-quarter-length, holding the Christ Child in her arms. Neither of them are shown with haloes and the emphasis is instead on their tender and intense intimacy, developing themes from the Eleusa-type icon in Byzantine art. The child reaches out his arm to his mother, but both their expressions are melancholy, with the Virgin reflecting on her son's future Passion.
References
- Catalogue entry by Neville Rowley
- (in Italian) AA.VV., La collezione di sculture al Bode-Museum, Prestel, Monaco di Baviera, 2011. ISBN 978-3-7913-4260-3
- (in German) Rolf C. Wirtz, Donatello, Könemann, Colonia 1998. ISBN 3-8290-4546-8