​ARTIST
Francesco de Mura (Naples, 1696-1782)

TITLE
Madonna and Child
​
MEDIUM
Oil on canvas
​
DIMENSIONS
29¾ x 24⅝ in. (75.7 x 62.6 cm.)
​
KNOWN PROVENANCE
Anonymous sale, Madrid, Sotheby's, 21 May 1991, lot 4;
Anonymous sale, Madrid, Castellana 150, 29 September 1998, lot 202; 
Old Master Paintings and Portrait Miniatures Sale No. L21030, Sotheby's, London, 28 April 2021, lot 415;
MD Museum, acquired at the above sale.

ACCESSION NUMBER
2021.2
​
NOTES
This painting is featured in the Metropolitan Frame Company website.

"Your work is a good example of Francesco de Mura’s art, done by him, possibly with minor studio assistants. It seems to have been done in Naples between the late 1740s and the early 1750s. It relates to the Madonna in a museum in Puerto Rico, illustrated as number 31 in my exhibition catalogue on De Mura, and even a bit closer to the Madonna in number 23, pp. 144-147 (and on the cover of the exhibition catalogue). The painting was probably meant for private devotions in a Neapolitan home (or private residence of a cleric).

Shown here are the Virgin Mary exchanging glances affectionately with the infant Jesus. His slightly older cousin, the infant John the Baptist, looks on from behind them. The work was probably used for private devotions in a home in Naples. This painting relates to similar works of the mid-1700s by the great Neapolitan Baroque artist, Francesco de Mura, who worked for the King of Spain. Thus, Spain is where many works by De Mura — such as this one — were collected."—Arthur R. Blumenthal, Ph.D., Director Emeritus, Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College