Madonna and Child seated under a tree

item details

NameMadonna and Child seated under a tree

ProductionLuca Cambiaso; artist; mid-16th century

Classificationdrawings, works on paper

Materialsink, paper

Materials Summarypen, brown ink and wash

DimensionsImage: 218mm (width), 270mm (height)

Registration Number1970-0023-1

Credit linePurchased 1970 with Ellen Eames Collection funds

Overview

This rapid yet tender pen-and-wash drawing of an age old subject is a characteristic work by the significant Genoese artist Luca Cambiaso (often called Cambiasi) (1527-1585). He was renowned for his techical facility; a famous episode tells of his patron, King Philip II of Spain, being astonished with Cambiaso's ability to transform a laughing child into a weeping one with a few telling strokes of the pen. Here we sense a restless Christ child, and a very young, tender Madonna. Cambiaso painted sometimes with a brush in each hand, and with a certainty equalling or transcending that even of Tintoretto. His fresco technique was very spontaneous and he used small drawings (such as this) to create full-size sketches on the walls of churches for his frescoes without the aid of cartoons. This drawing shows hints of Cambiaso's later style, characterised by bold geometrical simplification.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Cambiasi

Peter Tomory, Old Master Drawings from the National Collection (Wellington, 1983).

Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art February 2017