Ambrosius Benson, around 1495 Milan - 1550 Bruges

Ambrosius Benson,
ca. 1495 Milan - ca. 1550 Bruges

THE VIRGIN AND CHILD IN FINE LANDSCAPE

Oil on panel.
14.6 x 14.6 cm.
Provenance and auction labels on the reverse.

The painting on offer for sale in this lot, whose provenance and literature are well documented, depicts the Virgin in half-length standing in a violet robe embroidered with fine ornaments. The Christ Child is seated in her hands, one hand reaching for her chin, the other holding an apple the size of the child. The flesh tones, the textiles and the golden wavy hairstyle are painted in meticulous detail and are equal to the fine landscape painting in which the figures are harmoniously embedded.

Provenance:
Sotheby’s, London, 6 May 1925, lot 15.
Vick collection.
Thos. Agnew and Sons Ltd., London. From there to:
Edith Stanton Newberry (1870 - 1956), Detroit. Inherited by:
John S. Newberry, Detroit. Donated in 1957 to:
Grosse Pointe Memorial Church.
Sotheby’s, New York, 29 January 2015, lot 4. Acquired there by:
A. Alfred Taubman (1924 - 2015).
Sotheby’s, New York, 27 January 2016, lot 16.

Literature:
The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, XLVII, April 1925, p. 17.
Georges Marlier, Ambrosius Benson et la peinture à Bruges au temps de Charles-Quint, Damme 1957, p. 116, p. 297, no. 60.
Max J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting: The Antwerp Mannerists, XI, Leiden 1974, p. 97, no. 260, ill. 170.

Exhibitions:
London, Thos. Agnew and Sons Ltd., 1926.