Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Jerome

In this painting, the Madonna and Child are flanked by Saint Francis to the left, shown in the gray habit of the Franciscan order and holding the cross within his stigmata-marked hand, and Saint Jerome to the right, attired in the red robes of a cardinal, signifying his service to Pope Damasus I (305–384 CE). Saint Jerome is particularly striking, with a deeply introspective gaze and carefully rendered features. The individual quality of the figure led Bernard Berenson to hypothesize that this might be a portrait of a contemporary. Though likely not the case, it is among Francia’s most arresting depictions of the saint.

The bird that the Christ child holds is a European goldfinch, which, according to Christian legend, obtained its distinctive red face while attempting to remove the crown of thorns from Jesus’s head during the Passion, causing drops of Jesus’s blood to fall and stain its feathers red. With its open beak calling out from the grasp of the Christ child, the bird draws the viewer into the scene and uses its one free, beating wing to point to Christ’s hand, raised in blessing. These details speak to the subtle, layered emotionality of Francia’s work, where a simple attribute such as the goldfinch acts as both a serious directive to contemplate the Christ child and observe his benediction, and a touching struggle between helpless animal and child.

The biographer Carlo Cesare Malvasia described a painting by Francia of a Madonna with Saint Jerome and Saint Francis that was once in the Peretti Montalto collection, though more research would be necessary to determine if this could be the same work.[1] The 1638 inventory of Vincenzo Giustiniani’s (1564–1637) collection in Rome also lists a painting by Francia of a Madonna and Child holding a bird with Saints Jerome and Francis, but the dimensions differ.[2] In fact, several versions of this same subject by Francia and his workshop are known, as well as later derivations, one of which is in The Met’s collection (1975.1.97). The number of renditions suggests both the popularity of this composition and the tendency among members of Francia’s school to create variants of his paintings, which were much in demand by the noble families of Italy.[3] Among Francia’s notable followers were his two sons, Giacomo and Giulio, who became particularly adept at imitating his style.

The popularity of Francia’s Madonnas resulted in him painting a great number of them during his lifetime to satisfy collectors, and inspiring numerous writings in praise of these works. The biographer Carlo Cesare Malvasia recorded that Raphael once penned a letter to Francia expressing his admiration for his Madonnas, writing "in my view no other painter makes them more beautiful, more devout, or better executed."[4] As alluded to in this quotation, Francia was known for his "devout style," a mode of painting that combines purity, sweetness, and devotion.[5] This style can be traced to his Bolognese predecessor Lippo di Dalmasio (1360–1410) and would prove highly influential to future generations of Emilian painting, as can be seen especially in the works of Guido Reni (1575–1642).

Tiffany Racco 2023

[1] Lorenzo Pericolo, Alessandra Galizzi Kroegel, Tiffany Racco, and Elizabeth Cropper, Felsina Pittrice: A Critical Edition and Annotated Translation, vol. 2, part 1, London, 2021., p. 133 n. 91
[2] Negro and Roio 1998, p. 170
[3] Negro and Roio 1998, pp. 170–73
[4] Carlo Cesare Malvasia, Felsina pittrice: Vite de' pittori Bolognesi, Bologna, 1678, p. 45
[5] See Dempsey 1987 and Charles Dempsey, "Malvasia and the Problem of the Early Raphael and Bologna," Studies in the History of Art 17 (1986), pp. 57–70

principe Maffeo Barberini Colonna di Sciarra, Rome (by 1834–d. 1849); his son, principe Maffeo Barberini Colonna di Sciarra, Rome (b. 1850–at least 1889; cat., 1889); John Edward Taylor, London (by 1901–d. 1905; his estate, 1905–12; his estate sale, Christie's, London, July 5, 1912, no. 23, for £4,725 to Agnew); [Agnew, London, 1912–16; sold to Duveen]; [Duveen, London, 1916–?18; apparently sold to Blumenthal]; George Blumenthal, New York (?1918–41; cat., vol. 1, 1926, pl. XXXVIII)

Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. "30 Masterpieces: An Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 4–November 23, 1947, unnumbered cat.

Iowa City. State University of Iowa, School of Fine Arts. "30 Masterpieces: An Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 9–March 31, 1948, unnumbered cat.

Bloomington. Indiana University. "30 Masterpieces: An Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 18–May 16, 1948, no catalogue.

Antonio Nibby, ed. Itinéraire de Rome et de ses environs.. By M[ariano]. Vasi. Rome, 1834, vol. 1, p. 28, lists it in the Sciarra palace.

Giuseppe Melchiorri Romano. Guida metodica di Roma e suoi contorni. Rome, 1836, p. 570, lists it in the Sciarra palace.

Francesco Paolo Michetti and Leone Vicchi. Dieci quadri della galleria Sciarra. Rome, 1889, pp. 15–17, no. III, ill., identify the saints as Francis and Anthony.

George C. Williamson. Francesco Raibolini called Francia. London, 1901, pp. 101, 105, 145, compares it with other late versions of the subject by Francia; notes that it appears to have been cut down, and may at one time have included an inscription on the ledge; identifies the saints as Francis and Jerome.

Bernhard Berenson. North Italian Painters of the Renaissance. New York, 1907, p. 222, lists it in the collection of Mrs. J. E. Taylor, London; calls it "Madonna with St. Francis and Bianchini" [Francia's patron, Bartolomeo Bianchini].

Tancred Borenius, ed. A History of Painting in North Italy: Venice, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Ferrara, Milan, Friuli, Brescia, from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century.. By J[oseph]. A[rcher]. Crowe and G[iovanni]. B[attista]. Cavalcaselle. 2nd ed. [1st ed. 1871]. London, 1912, vol. 2, p. 285 n. 1, lists it in the collection of Mrs. J. E. Taylor, London, and identifies the saints as Francis and Jerome.

Giuseppe Lipparini. Francesco Francia. Bergamo, 1913, p. 135.

A[dolfo]. Venturi. "La pittura del Quattrocento." Storia dell'arte italiana. Vol. 7, part 3, Milan, 1914, p. 890, fig. 655, dates it about 1499.

Giuseppe Piazzi. Le opere di Francesco Raibolini, detto Il Francia: Orefice e pittore. Bologna, 1925, p. 62.

Stella Rubinstein-Bloch. Catalogue of the Collection of George and Florence Blumenthal. Vol. 1, Paintings—Early Schools. Paris, 1926, unpaginated, pl. XXXVIII.

Malcolm Vaughan. "Masterpieces in the Hamilton Collection." Art News 27 (April 27, 1929), p. 77, relates it to a work then in the Hamilton collection (later in the Hann collection; sold Christie's, New York, June 5, 1980), where the figure of Saint Francis has been replaced by Saint Mary Magdalen, and to other similar paintings by Francesco Francia and his sons, Giulio and Giacomo.

Bernhard Berenson. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932, p. 208, calls it "Madonna with Francis and another Saint".

Bernhard Berenson. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936, p. 179.

Herbert Friedmann. The Symbolic Goldfinch: Its History and Significance in European Devotional Art. Washington, 1946, pp. 93, 162, pl. 123.

Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 37.

Gaetano Panazza. I civici musei e la pinacoteca di Brescia. Bergamo, 1958, p. 133.

Luigi Salerno. "The Picture Gallery of Vincenzo Giustiniani III: The Inventory, Part II." Burlington Magazine 102 (April 1960), p. 138, suggests identifying it with no. 60 of the 1638 Giustiniani inventory.

Bernard Berenson. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Central Italian and North Italian Schools. London, 1968, vol. 1, p. 148.

Gaetano Panazza. La pinacoteca e i musei di Brescia. new ed., revised and enlarged. Bergamo, 1968, p. 137.

Burton B. Fredericksen and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972, pp. 75, 327, 397, 407, 607.

Federico Zeri with the assistance of Elizabeth E. Gardner. Italian Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, North Italian School. New York, 1986, pp. 20–21, pl. 22, date it perhaps 1500–1510; reject Berenson's [see Ref. 1907] identification of Saint Jerome as a portrait of Bianchini; doubt that the MMA painting is the one recorded in the Giustiniani collection [see Ref. Salerno 1960].

Simonetta Stagni in Pittura bolognese del '500. Ed. Vera Fortunati Pietrantonio. Bologna, 1986, vol. 1, p. 8.

Charles Dempsey. "The Carracci and the Devout Style in Emilia." Emilian Painting of the 16th and 17th Centuries. Bologna, 1987, p. 78, fig. 134.

Denis Mahon. "Fresh Light on Caravaggio's Earliest Period: His 'Cardsharps' Recovered." Burlington Magazine 130 (January 1988), p. 19 n. 52.

Simonetta Stagni. "Alcuni ampliamenti per Ercole Banci." Paragone 41 (January–March 1990), pp. 97–99 n. 12, fig. 71b, relates it to a work with the same four figures and a similar composition attributed to the school of Francia (formerly Lehman collection, New York), which is almost identical to a painting by Banci (Museo Davia Bargellini, Bologna); notes two copies after the MMA picture, one in the Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York, and one sold at Christie's, London, April 9, 1965 [see Notes].

Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 113, ill.

Emilio Negro and Nicosetta Roio. Francesco Francia e la sua scuola. Modena, 1998, pp. 77, 170–73, no. 43, ill. (color), date it to the first years of the sixteenth century, noting that this is one of the earliest versions of a composition frequently repeated by Francia and his circle; suggest workshop intervention in the figure of Saint Francis; catalogue six related paintings [see Notes]; point out that the dimensions do not match those of the picture listed in the Giustiniani inventory [see Ref. Salerno 1960].

Andrea Bayer. "North of the Apennines: Sixteenth-Century Italian Painting in Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 60 (Spring 2003), p. 44, 47, fig. 31 (color), dates it after 1500.

Old Master Paintings. Sotheby's, New York. June 6, 2013, p. 17, under no. 7.

The frame is from Bologna and dates to about 1650 (see figs. 1–4 above). This distinctive and elegant carved giltwood cassetta frame is made of poplar and secured with lap joins at the corners. The sight edge carving in the form of laurel husks emanates from center buds. The flat frieze is decorated with a lively running punchwork pattern of undulating cauliculi and pomegranates with acanthus leaf corners. The top edge in the form of a rolling ovolo, carved with lotus heads, terminates in corner leaves. An outer ogee falls back to the back edge step which is carved with flat lotus leaf ornament. The frame retains its original water gilding on a dark terracotta-colored bole on the frieze. The applied carved moldings were probably regilded when the frame was reduced at the corners by dismantling and cutting through the miters.

Timothy Newbery with Cynthia Moyer 2020; further information on this frame can be found in the Department of European Paintings files

This was a popular composition for Francia and his workshop; numerous versions are known. Negro and Roio (1998) catalogue four works that are almost identical to The Met's painting:
1. location unknown; photograph in the Fondazione Longhi, Florence
2. Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York (formerly conte Cernazai, Udine)
3. formerly Boleyn Investments; sold Christie's, London, April 9, 1965, no. 61, and May 20, 1966, no. 99, as by Giacomo Francia
4. sold Finarte, Milan, November 28, 1995, no. 133, as by Giacomo Francia
There is also a version where Saint Francis is replaced by Saint Mary Magdalen that was formerly in the Hamilton and Hann collections (sold Christie's, New York, June 5, 1980, no. 73). Another painting repeats only the pose of the Christ Child and was formerly in the collection of Lord Northwick, Thirlestane House, Cheltenham (sold Sotheby's, London, November 28, 1956, no. 53).

"The panel has been thinned and cradled, and it may have been cropped at the sides. The only significant change to the picture is in the greens, which have partly gone brown and have been restored; there are also fat cracks in the red of the Madonna's dress. The ledge at the base of the picture is presently completely repainted" (from Zeri and Gardner 1986).