Giovanni Balducci Detto Il Cosci, Madonna in Glory Among the Angels, 1600, Oil on Board

Details

Description

Giovanni Balducci, known as Cosci (Florence, 1560 – Naples, after 1631)
Madonna in Glory with Angels

Oil on panel

48 … Read more Giovanni Balducci, known as Cosci (Florence, 1560 – Naples, after 1631)
Madonna in Glory with Angels

Oil on panel

48 x 37 cm. - Framed 68 x 57 cm.

We offer in our gallery this splendid painting, of refined taste and pictorial value, depicting the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception in Glory with Angels.

The stylistic features of the painting clearly indicate a Tuscan painter working in the second half of the 16th century and adhering to the refined stylistic elements of Florentine Mannerism. In particular, we are inclined to connect its work to Giovanni Balducci, known as Cosci (Florence, 1560 – Naples, after 1631).

He trained in the workshop of Giovanni Battista Naldini, reflecting the influence of Giorgio Vasari and late Florentine Mannerism. However, as we can deduce from the proposed work, his style eschewed the virtuosic excesses of early Mannerism in favor of greater composure and a formal rigor that reflected the religious dictates of the Council of Trent.

from 1575 to 1579, he collaborated with Federico Zuccari on the completion of the frescoes of the Last Judgement in Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. After three years in Rome, from 1577 to 1580, where he and his master decorated the Altoviti Chapel in the Church of Trinità dei Monti, he returned to Florence, where he took part in the project led by Alessandro Allori for the decoration of the ceilings of the corridors on the top floor of the Uffizi.

Observing the panel and its details, one is astonished by the quality of execution, which reveals the vividness of the colors and the marked figurative precision, so much so that it can clearly be attributed to the hand of the painter, celebrated for his painting, characterized by a balanced composition and a narrative vein that combines Florentine elegance with a religious severity that anticipates 17th-century trends.

The master placed the triumphant figure of the Virgin at the center of the composition, a statuesque figure shrouded in clouds, depicted seated as if on a throne of clouds, gazing toward the heavens.

Before her is a jubilation of angels and cherubs, as if enveloping her figure and carrying her upward, while two of them correct lit torches, carrying with them a rich symbolism linked to light, spiritual guidance, and the passage between heaven and earth, symbolizing the accompaniment of the soul or body assumed into heaven.

The lunette of light behind him is beautiful, its lower edge punctuated by the heads of cherubs, a device found in the "Christ in Glory with Apostles and Saints" at the Palmer Museum of Art in Pennsylvania, dating back to around 1586, oil on panel.

Image 1 (upper detail)
Giovanni Balducci (1560–1631), Christ in Glory with the Apostles and Saints
c. 1586, oil on panel, 60.4 x 43.2 cm, Palmer Museum of Art

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The work is sold complete with a gilded frame and comes with a certificate of authenticity and an iconographic. This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



issues arising from misattribution See less