Madonna with the spindle

Madonna with the spindle Mary with the child (2nd copy)
Leonardo da Vinci , 1501
oil on wood
50.2 x 34.6 cm

Madonna with the spindle, Museo Soumaya , Mexico City

The Madonna with the spindle is a picture of the Madonna by Leonardo da Vinci . The image of Mary with the child is also commonly referred to as the Madonna with the spindle after one of the main painted attributes .

Story of the picture

Until now, art historians have assumed that the original of the picture has not been preserved and that the motif has only been passed down through copies.

According to the latest investigations, both of the paintings previously mentioned as copies are apparently actually originals by Leonardo da Vinci. Both paintings have preliminary drawings under the visible layer that have been described in detail in various written sources (e.g. a basket, animals and also threads of the spindle), but which were finally painted over in both paintings. In both cases, the creative processes can be traced, which were typical of da Vinci's working method, who sometimes worked on a single painting for many years. As a rule, copies do not show such preliminary drawings. It is possible that there is no other original from which these two copies are derived. Rather, it can be assumed that there are two original da Vincis on the same theme, which correspond exactly to the style of Leonardo in terms of technology and the materials used (e.g. the rare and very expensive lapis lazuli blue).

The oldest and only written source for the picture comes from Pietro da Novellara , who mentions it in a letter to Isabella d'Este on April 14, 1501 :

“… A Madonna sitting there as if she wanted to wind a spindle, and the child, with her foot in a spindle basket, has taken the spindle and is carefully looking at the four rays that are supposed to represent the cross. As if it longs for the cross, it laughs and holds the spindle so tight that its mother cannot take it away from it. "

The commissioner of the picture was the State Secretary of Ludwig XII. , Florimond I. Robertet . No further documents are currently known. There is a preparatory sketch that is kept in the collection of the L 'Accademia in Venice (Leonardo da Vinci, Study of Madonna with the Yarnwinder).

Copies

Several images are known today that are believed to represent the lost original. In particular, two Leonardesque tablets, which some researchers have considered possible originals, are now considered to be as close as possible to the original:

Copy 1

• Painted around 1501–1510
• oil on wood
• Dimensions: 48.3 cm × 36.9 cm
• Where to find: Drumlanring Castle Collection - Duke of Buccleuch

This is the more popular version of the topic. It has been known to art scholars since 1898 when it was exhibited at the Burlington Club in London . This picture hit the headlines when it was stolen on August 27, 2003. On October 4, 2007, the picture was seized during a British police raid in Glasgow.

Copy 2

• Painted after 1510
• Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 50.2 cm × 36.4 cm
• Remaining: Private collection, New York

This copy is also known as the Madonna Reford because the plaque was in the Reford Collection in Montreal for a long time . It is considered a little weaker than the tablet in Drumlanring Castle. During the restoration of the painting, it was found that it was originally painted on wood rather than canvas. This has warped over time and damaged the paint layer. In an earlier restoration, the paint layer was first transferred to the front on a gauze, the original wood was then removed layer by layer, and the painting was transferred to a carrier canvas. This treatment further damaged the paint layer, which is why a wooden panel was glued under again later. The structure of the gauze and the canvas was permanently transferred to the paint layer, which originally led to the assumption that it was originally painted on canvas.

Deviations from the original

However, both images deviate from the description of the Novellara in crucial points. There is no trace of the spindle basket he mentioned in either of the pictures and the main motif, the spindle-cross symbol, has been changed by the copyists into a clearly recognizable wooden cross.

literature

• Wilhelm Suida: Leonardo and his circle. Bruckmann, Munich 1929.
• Maria Pomilio, Angela Ottino Della Chiesa: Classics of Art - Leonardo da Vinci. Kunstkreis Luzern, Freudenstadt - Vienna 1967.

Web links

Commons : Madonna with the spindle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} ( page no longer available , search in web archives: arte documentary "Da Vinci or not da Vinci?" )
2. ^ Frank Zöllner : Leonardo da Vinci, 1452–1519 - all paintings . Taschen, Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3-8365-6979-8 , pp. 238, 256 .
3. ↑ Martin Kemp, Thereza Wells: Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna of the Yarnwinder. A Historical and Scientific Detective Story . S. 31 ( academia.edu - facsimile of the letter).