“Madonna and Child”, a Drawing by Hans Baldung Green (Grien) from the Collection of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts
Keywords:
Hans Baldung Grien, German Renaissance drawings, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Albrecht DurerAbstract
The article is devoted to clarifying the date and determining the function of the drawing “The Madonna and Child” by Hans Baldung Green from the collection of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. The drawing was made with a pen and black ink, heightened with white, on dark red-brown-colored paper. The corners of the sheet were cut, perhaps the artist monogram and date of creation were removed along with them. Previously attributed to Lucas Cranach the Elder due to a false monogram, the drawing was identified as a work of Baldung by O. Benes and M. Liebmann in 1963, later by F. Winzinger in 1976. Liebmann dated the drawing to the period before 1516, Winzinger suggested that the drawing could have been created around 1512. Both art historians relied solely on stylistic comparisons with the other drawings by Hans Baldung Grien. G. Kislykh (2009) held onto M. Liebmann’s position. Тhe author of this article suggests an earlier date: between 1510–1511. The concept of the drawing and its composition took shape during the period of Baldung’s work in the workshop of Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg (1503–1507) and directly correlates with its production. A group of iconographically similar sketches by the apprentice and the master, was formed in 1503–1505. This group of studies probably served a work material for workshop works (“Madonna in the Garden”, woodcut, 1505; “Madonna with the Iris”, painting, 1500s, National Gallery, London) during A. Durer’s stay in Italy (1505–1507). The technical peculiarity of the drawing from the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is related to the work of H. Baldung in the field of chiaroscuro in the period 1510–1511. In our opinion, the date of this graphic work obviously falls into this period. The drawing not only accumulates the experience gained from the teacher, but provides a model for works created later in Baldung Strasbourg workshop. (“Reading Madonna with Child and Angels”, chiaroscuro, ca. 1511).
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