Los Angeles Getty buys two Italian masterpieces: a Bronzino painting and two marbles by Giovanni di Balduccio

Important purchases for the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles: a painting by Bronzino (Agnolo di Cosimo Tori; Florence, 1503 - 1572) and two marbles by Giovanni di Balduccio (Pisa, 1290 - Milan, 1339) arrive. In the first case, it is a recently rediscovered work, a Madonna and Child with St. Elizabeth and St. John . The second work, on the other hand, is a group depicting theAnnunciation.

Bronzino’s painting depicts the Child in the act of playing with the crown of flowers he wears on his head, turning toward his mother, who embraces St. John, all while the latter’s mother, St. Elizabeth, observes the scene. The work, according to experts, should be dated to a period between 1540 and 1545. As mentioned, this is a recently rediscovered painting: first appearing on the market in 1898, in Milan, with attribution to Andrea del Sarto, it reemerged in 1964 with a change of attribution (that time it was finally ascribed to Bronzino: it was noted that the artist’s signature appears on a stone in the lower left corner), and has remained in the possession of private collectors ever since. The first scholarly publication regarding Bronzino’s Madonna dates only to 2016. Another version of the same composition, also signed, is known to be preserved in the National Gallery in London (Bronzino is known to have often worked on the same compositions).

"The Madonna and Child with Saints John and Elizabeth is an absolute masterpiece by the greatest Florentine artist of the period, and it has not been on public display for centuries," explains Davide Gasparotto, senior curator of painting at the Getty. “This painting represents Bronzino at the height of his talent. With its controlled drawing, splendid marble forms, surfaces that appear to be glazed, and abundant use of expensive pigments, this is a precious and sumptuous object, intended not only to be an object of devotion but also of admiration for its virtuoso executional qualities.”

Giovanni di Balduccio’sAnnunciation, on the other hand, is an elegant marble group composed of two finely polished statues rich in gilded decoration, especially on the draperies. The figure of thearchangel Gabriel is smaller than that of the Virgin: depicted in the act of looking toward her, Gabriel has his head turned slightly to the left, and his right knee bent under his tunic. The curls of his hair and the folds of his tunic flow backward, to suggest his sudden arrival. Mary, on the other hand, appears surprised: she rests on her right leg, bending her left knee, and returns the archangel’s gaze. It is likely that these two works came from what was the sculptural decoration of a chapel that was located in the Rocca di Porta Galliera in Bologna: the chapel, erected for Pope John XXII in the 1430s, featured not only sculptures by Giovanni di Balduccio but also frescoes by Giotto. The chapel was destroyed shortly after the expulsion of the papal legate from the city in 1334: the frescoes were irretrievably lost and the sculptures scattered.

“These are wonderful sculptures, of the highest quality, created by one of the greatest Italian Gothic sculptors for a prestigious papal chapel,” points out Anne-Lise Desmas, senior curator of sculpture and decorative arts at the Getty Museum. “It is a well-documented work and is in an exceptional state of preservation: it was made by one of the greatest masters of the 14th century, and it will stand out in our collection of medieval sculpture because of its ambitious composition, elegant figures and refined modeling.”

Getty director Timothy Potts also comments on the two new purchases: "The Madonna and Child with Saint Elizabeth and Saint John,“ he declares, ”is a work of extraordinary beauty that ranks among Bronzino’s most spectacular religious paintings. The marvelous, sculptural portrait of the Child and the vibrant juxtaposition of luminous colors in the draperies are typical of Bronzino’s meticulous style: qualities that made him one of the most sought-after painters of his generation in Florence. Recently rediscovered and published as a work by Bronzino in 2016, this painting represents the most important addition to our sixteenth-century collection in the last thirty years and is a work that has never before been exhibited in a museum."

As for Giovanni di Balduccio’sAnnunciation, Potts says, “it is a masterpiece of late Gothic sculpture and represents one of the most exciting recent discoveries in 14th-century Italian sculpture. It shows the Virgin at the moment when she is informed by the archangel Gabriel of the imminent birth of Christ. The delicate gestures of the figures and their stylized features add elegance to the emotive power of this achievement. It is in an exceptional state of preservation: these two marbles will be among the most important late Gothic sculptures found in the United States, and they are one of the Getty’s most important medieval treasures. They will be a perfect complement to our collections of illuminated manuscripts and 14th-century paintings.”

Los Angeles Getty buys two Italian masterpieces: a Bronzino painting and two marbles by Giovanni di Balduccio

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