Small Cowper Madonna. The Small Cowper Madonna is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael, depicting Mary and Child, in a typical Italian countryside.
It has been dated to around 1505, the middle of the High Renaissance. It is not known exactly why the Small Cowper Madonna was painted.
It was probably either a private commission or for the general art market; images of the Madonna and Child were often given as wedding presents. It is widely thought that the church on the right hand side of the painting is the church of San Bernardino, where the Dukes of Urbino were buried, and it has been suggested that the presence of the church means the painting may have been commissioned by the family for devotional purposes.
At the same time, it could just be Raphael drawing on memories of the church, which would have been near where he grew up in Urbino. Sitting in the center of the work in a bright red dress is the Madonna.
She is fair skinned with blonde hair. She sits comfortably on a wooden bench. Across her lap is a dark drapery upon which her right hand delicately sits. There appears to be a sheer translucent ribbon elegantly flowing across the top of her dress and behind her head. The faintest golden halo miraculously surrounds her head. In her left hand she holds the baby Christ, who embraces her with one arm around her back, the other around her neck. He, an undeniably precious child
It has been dated to around 1505, the middle of the High Renaissance. It is not known exactly why the Small Cowper Madonna was painted.
It was probably either a private commission or for the general art market; images of the Madonna and Child were often given as wedding presents. It is widely thought that the church on the right hand side of the painting is the church of San Bernardino, where the Dukes of Urbino were buried, and it has been suggested that the presence of the church means the painting may have been commissioned by the family for devotional purposes.
At the same time, it could just be Raphael drawing on memories of the church, which would have been near where he grew up in Urbino. Sitting in the center of the work in a bright red dress is the Madonna.
She is fair skinned with blonde hair. She sits comfortably on a wooden bench. Across her lap is a dark drapery upon which her right hand delicately sits. There appears to be a sheer translucent ribbon elegantly flowing across the top of her dress and behind her head. The faintest golden halo miraculously surrounds her head. In her left hand she holds the baby Christ, who embraces her with one arm around her back, the other around her neck. He, an undeniably precious child
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