Niccolini-Cowper Madonna


The Niccolini-Cowper Madonna, also known as the Large Cowper Madonna, is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael, depicting Mary and Child, against a blue sky.

The painting

The painting may have been the last of Raphael's Florentine paintings before he left for Rome. It is more complex than a similar painting the Small Cowper Madonna of a few years earlier. The Virgin and Child fill the canvas, creating an imposing effect. The two are more closely related, both by positioning of their bodies and their intimacy. Raphael may have derived the talent for creating a natural intimacy through Leonardo da Vinci. The portrayal of the infant's energy is reminiscent of works of Michelangelo. The compelling, playful Child reaches for the Madonna's top as if wanting to nurse. Both paintings bear the name of their former owners.
An inscription on the painting, center right on the border of Madonna's bodice: MDVIII.R.V.PIN tells that it was painted in 1508 by Raphael of Urbino.

Provenance

Cowper's art collection absorbed a great deal of his time and money. His most notable possessions are probably the two Cowper Madonna paintings Raphael: Small Cowper Madonna and this painting, the Niccolini-Cowper Madonna. Tribuna of the Uffizi shows Cowper looking at the Niccolini-Cowper Madonna painting as it is offered by Johann Zoffany. Zoffany had purchased the painting from the Niccolini family in 1782 and sold it to Cowper in 1785.