The Virgin and Child with Saints Peter and Paul

Gallery Text

Painted in Lombardy, this altarpiece shows Christ handing the large, gleaming keys of the kingdom of heaven to Saint Peter. The saint rests one foot on what resembles a cornerstone, symbolizing his role as a founder of the Church — the “rock” upon which it was built. The image thus confirms that the authority of the Church was granted by Christ himself, a central tenet of the Counter-Reformation. On the right is Saint Paul, holding the sword with which he was martyred and a book representing his epistles.

The throne of the Virgin seems to be carved out of the living rock, from which sprout roots and foliage. The emphasis on nature reveals the continuing influence of Leonardo da Vinci on the Lombard school of painting, though the crisp delineation of forms is more linear and straightforward than the ambiguity and subtlety of the great master’s work.

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1968.116
People: Girolamo Figino, Italian (active c. 1540 - c. 1570)
Previously attributed to Master of the Solomon Altarpiece, Italian (active 1550 - 1575)
Previously attributed to Gaudenzio Ferrari, Italian (Valduggia, Italy 1480 - 1546 Milan, Italy)
Title: The Virgin and Child with Saints Peter and Paul
Other Titles: Alternate Title: Madonna and Child with Saints Peter and Paul
Classification: Paintings
Work Type: painting
Date: 16th century
Culture: Italian, Lombard, Milanese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/228140

Location

Location: Level 2, Room 2540, European Art, 13th–16th century, The Renaissance

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Physical Descriptions

Medium: Oil on panel
Dimensions: sight: 149 x 146.8 cm (58 11/16 x 57 13/16 in.)
framed: 185.4 x 182.9 x 10.5 cm (73 x 72 x 4 1/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History: [Stirling sale, Sotheby's, London, July 3, 1963, lot 39 as by Gaudenzio Ferrari or Lieutenant Colonel William Joseph Stirling sale, Sotheby’s, London, July 3, 1963]]. [Julius Weitzner, London], sold; to Arthur K. Solomon, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1982.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Dr. Arthur K. Solomon in memory of Susan Pulitzer Freedberg
Accession Year: 1968
Object Number: 1968.116
Division: European and American Art
Contact: am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions: The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

Fogg Art Museum Acquisitions Report (Cambridge, MA, 1968), p. 123, repr. [as by Master XL]
Giovanni Romano, Gaudenzio Ferrari e la sua scuola: I cartoni cinquecenteschi dell'Accademia Albertina, exh. cat., Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti (Turin, 1982), p. 252
Edgar Peters Bowron, European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum: A Summary Catalogue including Paintings in the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990)

Exhibition History

32Q: 2540 Renaissance, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu

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1968.116: The Virgin and Child with Saints Peter and Paul