Attributed to Donatello
Virgin and Child with Five Angels
ca. 1445-50
Terracotta with traces of color
22 x 1.5 cm
Gilt frame, not original
Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Skulpturensammlung, Inv. SKS M 88.
Bode-Museum, storage.
Provenance
Florence, Luigi Grassi (1906); Berlin, Skulpturensammlung/Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (1906-1939); Berlin, storage (1939-1945); Merkers, storage (1945); Wiesbaden, Central Collecting Point (1945-1956); West Berlin, Skulpturensammlung/Museum Dahlem (1956-1990); Berlin, Skulpturensammlung/Museum Dahlem (1990-1997); Berlin, storage (1997-2006); Berlin, Skulpturensammlung/Bode-Museum (since 2006).
Acquisition
Bought in Florence in 1906 from Luigi Grassi, for 2,440.50 Mark. Property of the Kaiser Friedrich-Museums-Verein.
Other Versions
• Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Skulpturensammlung, Inv. SKS 58.
• Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, Inv. 1810. Marble, 68 x 50 cm.
Literature
Bode 1907
Wilhelm Bode in Kaiser Friedrich-Museums-Verein zu Berlin. Bericht über das Geschäftsjahr 1906-1907, Berlin, H. S. Hermann, 1907, pp. 15-17: sketch made by Donatello, who left it to his pupils for larger-scale versions.
Bode 1908
Wilhelm Bode, “Ein Blick in Donatellos Werkstatt”, Monatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft, I, n°1-2, January-February 1908, pp. 6-7: sketch made by Donatello.
Schottmüller 1913
Frida Schottmüller, Die italienischen und spanischen Bildwerke der Renaissance und des Barocks in Marmor, Ton, Holz und Stuck, Berlin, Georg Reimer, 1913, p. 20 cat. 41: sketch for the marble relief in the Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris.
Bode 1921
Wilhelm Bode, Florentiner Bildhauer der Renaissance, Berlin, Bruno Cassirer, 1921, p. 119 fig. 73: Donatello.
Wulff 1922
Oskar Wulff, Donatello, Leipzig, E. A. Seemann, 1922, p. 14.
Maclagan and Longhurst 1932
Eric Maclagan and Margaret H. Longhurst, Catalogue of Italian Sculpture, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 25.
Schottmüller 1933
Frida Schottmüller, Die italienischen und spanischen Bildwerke der Renaissance und des Barock. Erster Band. Die Bildwerke in Stein, Holz, Ton und Wachs, Zweite Auflage, Berlin and Leipzig, Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1933, pp. 14-15: follower of Donatello; traces of paint; composition made after Inv. KFM 67; the composition is too unclear to be by Donatello.
Middeldorf 1938
Ulrich Middeldorf, review of Schottmüller 1933, Rivista d’arte, XX, 1938 now in: idem, Raccolta di scritti that is Collected Writings. I. 1924-1938, Florence, SPES, 1979-80, p. 379: workshop of Donatello.
Goldscheider 1947
L. Goldscheider, Donatello, Paris, Phaidon, 1947, p. 39 fig. 118: school of Donatello.
Pope-Hennessy 1964
John Pope-Hennessy, Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1964, I, pp. 80-81: the related Victoria and Albert Museum relief is after Donatello, but the model is not the present work.
Kunstwerke… 1966
Kunstwerke aus dem Besitz des Kaiser-Friedrich-Museums-Vereins, West Berlien, Kaiser-Friedrich-Museums-Verein, 1966, p. 42: follower of Donatello.
Kaiser-Friedrich-Museums-Verein Berlin… 1972
Kaiser-Friedrich-Museums-Verein Berlin. Erwerbungen 1897-1972, n. pl., Adolph Fürst & Sohn, 1972, pp. 70-71 cat. 88: follower of Donatello.
La Moureyre-Gavoty 1975
Françoise de La Moureyre-Gavoty, Inventaire des collections publiques françaises. 19. Institut de France. Paris – Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris, Édition des Musées Nationaux, 1975, cat. 25: probably Donatello.
Avery 1986
Charles Avery, “Donatello’s Madonnas Reconsidered“, Apollo, CXXIV, n°295 (new series), September 1986, pp. 181-182: Donatello, 1455-1460; close to the putti at the base of the Judith and Holophernes in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
Neri Lusanna 1986
Enrica Neri Lusanna in eadem and Lucia Faedo (eds.), Il museo Bardini a Firenze. Volume secondo: le sculture, Milan, Electa, 1986, p. 253: the version in the Musée Jacquemart-
Entstehungsort stilistisch: Florenz
Eigentum des Kaiser Friedrich Museumsverein