Virgin of Jacopo di Cione

by Stéphane Pinta from the Cabinet Turquin

Jacopo di CIONE (documented in Florence from 1365 to 1398 dead before 1400).

THE VIRGIN AND THE CHILD IN TRÔNE between SAINT BAPTIST, SAINT STONE, SAINT ABBE ANTOINE, SAINT ANTOINE OF PADOUE

Top curved panel, poplar, one plank, not parquet flooring

Height 64,5 Width 44 cm
Ancient restorations
Frameless

Provenance: old collection from Montpellier and its descendants.



In front of a green-yellow drapery strewn with golden star patterns and bordered by a red festoon, fictitiously fixed to the edges of the panel, the crowned Virgin is seen at the foot dressed in a white robe and a blue mantle veiling her head. She sits on a large central throne with only the pedestal in the foreground and holds the Child seated on her lap. On either side of the throne, a group of saints, grouped in pairs and recognizable by their physical type and attributes, stand. The Child dressed in a blue dress and a pink mantle tries to attract the attention of his Mother by staring at her and clinging to her veil.

Many of the features found in this touching work of devotion, of which this is the first appearance, link it to the Florentine school of the 14th century: the preponderant presence of Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, the imposing figure of the Madonna recalling the Giottesque tradition, the drapery serving as the back of the throne, a decorative motif particularly prized by Bernardo Daddi, Giotto's pupil, all these elements were taken up again in the second half of the 14th century after the Great Plague of 1348 by artists anxious to maintain this tradition.

It is to one of the latter, Jacopo di Cione, that we probably owe the execution of this panel. Younger brother of the painters Andrea di Cione known as the Orcagna (Florence around 1308-1368) and of Nardo di Cione (Florence around 1320-1366) Jacopo worked in their studio and continued in 1368, according to the documents, the important altarpiece of Saint Matthew for the Orsanmichele church (Florence, Uffizi n°3163) started by Andrea in 1367.

Probably born around 1340, first documented in 1365, Jacopo was later enrolled in the guild of painters of Florence in 1369, of which he was elected consul in 1384 and 1392. He collaborated with other painters including Niccolo di Pietro Gerini in the execution in 1366 of the frescoes for the Florentine palace of the Guidicci e Notai (lost in part) and in 1371 for the altarpiece of the Coronation of the Virgin for the Church of San Pier Maggiore in Florence (London, National Gallery, no. 569-578) an important work proving that he was not a beginner. A Madonna and Child dated 1362 (Brussels, old Stoclet collection, cf. Boskovits, pl.48) is considered to be Jacopo's first known work.

Read the presentation by Jacques Farran

Read Philippe Rouillac's presentation