Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 105. (Budapest, 2006)
ANDREA CZÉRE: Giambettino Cignaroli's Drawing of the Virgin and Child in the Budapest Collection: On the Third Centenary of the Artist's Birth
for them.' K Yet, in the museum's collection of drawings no work by the artist was previously got into the public eye. His drawing of the Virgin and Child reproduced here (fig. 2) |y was identified as Cignaroli's work by the author of this note from among the unknown seventeenth-century Italian sheets, 20 on the basis of its style. The Virgin and Child —in half-length or full-length format, alone or in the company of saints —was one of the artist's favourite themes. The majority of his two hundred or so paintings dealt with this subject. In the list of the lost works which cannot be certified and are therefore of uncertain authorship, the author of the dissertation on Cignaroli enumerates a great number of images of the Y 7 irgin and Child. 21 From among the 391 works in the three volumes of drawings of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan, published by Franco Renzo Pesenti, 32 sheets show the Madonna. Similarly to Cignaroli's works in general, his Virgin and Child compositions do not arouse strong emotions nor do they contain mysteries. They are lacking in lively movement, and instead are static, yet peaceful. The fact that the artist generally rendered his figures slightly from below also contributes to their dignified effect. The two major sources of inspiration for these compositions are Venetian painting —the Madonna-images of Veronese and Titian —and the classical Madonna-type created by Carlo Maratti. Among the works in the volumes of drawings in the Library of the Ambrosiana no composition can be found which can be closely connected to the Budapest drawing. Nor can any exact and perfect correspondence be found among the master's hitherto known paintings. 22 However, based on the figurai types, their movements and postures, the Budapest Virgin and Child can be linked to several paintings and drawings. At the same time, compared to the artist's other drawdngs, its style shows shared features that remove any doubt as to the author's identity. The seated position with crossed legs and knees wide apart recurs in several Virgin figures of the artist's paintings similarly to the posture of the infant sitting on a pedestal close to her, holding a cross in one hand and raising his right hand in blessing. Quite characteristic are the indication of the features of the faces viewed in three-quarter profile with the dark marking of the eyes, or the spontaneous, definite delineation of the Virgin's Roman, straight nose with a single skilful stroke indicating shade. Very typical are, above all, the fine contours within which the dominant two-toned wash freely and loosely suggests the forms, the folds of the robe and the headdress. Here the Virgin is also shown from below. Her oval face is pleasant, she glances down with a faint smile, and in her right hand she holds some clothes with a graceful gesture. This allows the supposition that the drawing is a study for a painting which showed the Virgin with the founders of the Servite Order in which she is depicted handing the habit over to them, as was customary when dealing with this theme. One of the several
