Circle of Andrea Pisano (1290-1358) Italian, probably Orvieto, circa 1330

private collection, Torre Alfina

B. Toscano, 'Una "Madonna" lignea trecentesca', Paragone LXIII, 751, September 2012, pp. 3-15, pls. 1-15

Overall the condition of the wood is good. There is some wear and dirt to the surface consistent with age with particular wear to the edges of the drapery folds. The object was stripped of its polychromy, some remnants of gesso remain. There is some naturally occurring worming to the surface, particularly at the reverse. Some of the worming took place when the object still had its paint and therefore runs along the surface. There is some stable splitting to the wood at the sides and on the proper right side of the face consistent with material. There is a hole just under the Virgin's belt.
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In a recently published thesis Toscano (op.cit.) argues that the present sculpture could be attributed to Andrea Pisano. He compares Pisano’s marble Temperanza which was carved for the Baptistery in Florence (op. cit., plate 8a). The line and form of her hair, as well as the shape and structure of her face bear striking similarity to the present Madonna. Pisano’s Saint Reparata (illustrated in Toscano, op. cit., plate 9) compares in the same way. Another feature which they all share is the diamond-shaped brooch holding together the mantle and the associated way in which the mantle falls open. Further comparisons for the brooch can be found in Orvieto, where the Duomo has a door decorated with similar diamond-shaped motifs (illustrated in Toscano, op. cit., plate 12a). The brooch adorning a Madonna and Child in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo of Orvieto, variously associated with either Pisano or his contemporary Lorenzo Maitani, equally takes the form of one of the motifs on the door (illustrated in Toscano, op. cit., plate 12b).

Pisano was a pioneer of the synthesis of Gothic and Renaissance elements in sculpture and the present work shows the remarkable advance that was made in the early 14th century. The frontality of the composition and motifs such as the Virgin cradling Christ's foot, are prevalent in Italian Gothic sculpture. Compare, for example, a Madonna and Child enthroned in the Museo Nazionale Concordiese, Portogruaro, by an artist working in the Venetian Byzantine tradition (illustrated in Walcher, op. cit., p. 89). However, the present group shows a marked development in style from the Portogruaro Madonna, perhaps most notably in the volume of the bodies articulated beneath the drapery. Note the difference in the position of the Christ Child on the lap of the Madonna: in the present sculpture His weight is taken into account as He sinks into Her lap, as opposed to the more floating position of the Christ represented in the Portagruaro marble. The chubby leg of the present Christ Child is also more naturalistic and the impression that the Madonna’s fingers make on His chest gives a tangible sense of Her grip and the associated weight of the body.

An attribution to Andrea Pisano is complicated by the limited body of work we can definitely ascribe to him and the proliferation of the present composition in Umbria and Tuscany in both paintings and sculpture. The carving may, for example, equally have been inspired Duccio’s Madonna with Child in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. 2004.442). What is clear from the comparisons and finesse of the carving is that the present sculptor was most likely active in Orvieto or the surrounding areas at some point in his career and familiar with the contemporary styles of the Umbrian city. This is supported by the provenance of the present sculpture which was discovered in the village of Torre Alfina which is today in the province which once formed part of Orvieto.

The present wood carving would originally have been stuccoed, polychromed and gilt. Traces of the gold leaf remain on the hair of the Christ Child. The uniform line of the reverse suggests that the sculpture would originally have been placed against a flat surface, rather than positioned to be viewed in the round; this surface may also have been gilt. The group has been carved entirely from a single block of wood and hollowed out extremely thinly. The group has been preserved in remarkably good condition with little damage to the material despite its delicacy.

RELATED LITERATURE
J. Pope-Hennessy, Italian Gothic sculpture, London, 1955, pp. 23-25; M. Walcher, Scultura in Friuli. Il Gotico, Pordenone, 1980, pp. 88-91, no. 22 and 23