ticketsMember | Make a donation

Standing Pregnant Woman (Study for the Pregnant Virgin Mary)

1576–1629
Not on view
Traditionally attributed to Denys Calvaert – as recorded on the mount by an elegant inscription of Jonathan Richardson Sr. (1667–1745) – this drawing is a typical example of the chalk draughtsmanship of Bartolomeo Cesi, a leading artist of the Bolognese scene during the age of the Counter Reformation in the late sixteenth century. Drawn in red and white chalks on blue paper, this sheet is in fact a study for the ‘Pregnant Virgin Mary ’, originally frescoed by Cesi in the Manzoli (or Manzuoli) altar of the Church of Santa Maria delle Febbri known as Madonna di Miramonte (Bologna) and now preserved as a detached fresco in the Chiostro delle Madonne of the Certosa di Bologna. The correspondence with the fresco is very close, though in the fresco the Virgin holds an open book in her joined hands.In the church of Miramonte, the fresco was first noticed by Carlo Cesare Malvasia in his account ‘Felsina Pittirice’ (as "a fresco la B.[eata] V.[ergine] gravida nell’Altare Manzoli nella Madonna di Miramonte, una copia della quale in picciol rame trivansi presso il sig. Floriano Malzezzi Concanonico nostro, e tante presso tant’altari, essendo stata così comunemente piacciuta" 1686 [ed. 1841], p. 246). In these words, Malvasia highlighted the incredible visual fortune of Cesi’s ‘Pregnant Virgin’, which was copied in numerous versions and various media, just shortly after its execution.

Alberto Graziani (1939), who identified the fresco in the Certosa as Cesi's work, suggested that a pen and wash drawing in the Uffizi, Florence, was a preliminary study for the Manzuoli fresco (Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi inv. no. 12736 see: Graziani 1939, pp. 85, 95). The Uffizi drawing represents an ‘Annunciation’ of somewhat unusual iconography: the space is occupied in part by a dedicatory tablet and although her stance and drapery are paralleled in our drawing and the final fresco, the figure of the Virgin is of course not yet pregnant. In light of the Uffizi sheet, Cesi likely modified his initial idea of painting an ‘Annunciation’ and - with a drastic change of iconography - opted for the unusual image of a standing pregnant Virgin.

(Furio Rinaldi, 2015)

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Standing Pregnant Woman (Study for the Pregnant Virgin Mary)
  • Artist: Bartolomeo Cesi (Italian, Bologna 1556–1629 Bologna)
  • Date: 1576–1629
  • Medium: Red chalk, highlighted with white; squared in black chalk
  • Dimensions: 11 x 5 9/16in. (28 x 14.1cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1976
  • Object Number: 1976.187.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Saint Lawrence, Bartolomeo Cesi Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash; squared in black chalk
Saint Lawrence
Bartolomeo Cesi
1619
Lucretia, Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) Italian, Pen and brown ink over black chalk, partially incised with a stylus (recto); rubbed with black chalk for transfer (verso)
Lucretia
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi)
1508–10
Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto); Studies for the Libyan Sibyl and a small Sketch for a Seated Figure (verso), Michelangelo Buonarroti Italian, Red chalk, with small accents of white chalk on the left shoulder of the figure in the main study (recto); soft black chalk, or less probably charcoal (verso)
Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto); Studies for the Libyan Sibyl and a small Sketch for a Seated Figure (verso)
Michelangelo Buonarroti
ca. 1510–11
Three Standing Figures (recto); Seated Woman and a Male Hermit in Half-length (verso), Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni d'Arbosio di Francia) Italian, Pen and brown ink, over traces of charcoal or black chalk (recto); pen and brown ink, brush with touches of brown wash, over traces of charcoal or black chalk (verso)
Three Standing Figures (recto); Seated Woman and a Male Hermit in Half-length (verso)
Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni d'Arbosio di Francia)
1435–38
The Head of the Virgin in Three-Quarter View Facing Right, Leonardo da Vinci Italian, Black chalk, charcoal, and red chalk, with some traces of white chalk (?); some remains of framing lines in pen and brown ink at upper right (not by Leonardo)
The Head of the Virgin in Three-Quarter View Facing Right
Leonardo da Vinci
1510–13

Related Content

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.