Botticelli at the National Museum of the Renaissance!

For about two months, a work from the workshop of the Italian master has been resting in the National Museum of the Renaissance – Château d'Écouen. An exceptional event!

Sandro Botticelli, master of the Italian Renaissance

You probably know the Florentine artist (1445-1510) for his iconic works such as " The birth of Venus " ) Where " Spring« , both kept at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Nevertheless, the artist does not only deal with themes drawn from Greco-Roman mythology, also biblical subjects.

This is the case with this work: The Virgin and Child with Infant Saint John the Baptist“. Several versions of this composition are known, showing the success of the painting on the Florentine market. Botticelli, like all his fellow artists, was not alone in painting. We are far from the myth of the artist alone in his studio with his palette! No, the artist surrounds himself with a cohort of “assistant” painters who help him fulfill orders. There are therefore two (known) versions of this table. They rest in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence and the Museum and Art Gallery in Birmingham.

For many years, this Virgin and Child was considered a simple XNUMXth century copy deposited in the Saint-Félix church in Champigny-en-Beauce, a small town near Blois, in the department of Loir-et- Expensive. It is now attributed to Botticelli's workshop thanks to the work of heritage curator Matteo Gianeselli.

A recent restoration

Le French Museums Research and Restoration Center carried out the restoration, supported by the Department of Cultural Affairs Center Val-de-Loire, completed in 2021.

You can admire this painting in the chapel of the Château d'Écouen until the beginning of 2023. The opportunity to (re)discover other major works from the period in the setting of the Château d'Anne de Montmorency.

For more information :

• On the National Museum of the Renaissance – Château d'Écouen

• Public chat Sandro Botticelli