The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Virgin and Child with St. Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Anne (?)

Virgin and Child with St. Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Anne (?)

c. 1545
Location: not on view

Description

Battista Franco was one of Michelangelo’s most devoted followers: his biographer Giorgio Vasari wrote that he drew every figure on the master’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. In Franco’s own works, such as this drawing, he made new, inventive compositions that emulated Michelangelo without directly copying or quoting his works.

The drawing—possibly a study for painted pottery—shows the Virgin Mary and Christ flanked by Saints Anne and Catherine. The unusual, twisting forms of the saints recall the inventive poses that Michelangelo created for many of the saints on the Last Judgment fresco.
  • Earl John Spencer (Lugt 1531, lower right, in black ink)
  • Barocci, Federigo, and Luca Baroni. Barocci ritrovato: il restauro del Martirio di san Sebastiano. Milano, Italia : Officina libraria, 2020. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 32-33, fig. 14
  • Master/Apprentice: Imitation and Inspiration in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 2019-February 23, 2020).
    Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 1986-March 1, 1987).
    CMA, Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection (Dec. 15, 1986-Mar. 1, 1987). : (valid ref.?--appears on the gallery-positioning sheet in the file for this exh., but not on the label-copy sheet for it (?))
    The Draftsman's Eye: Late Italian Renaissance Schools and Styles. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 6-April 22, 1979).
    CMA, The Draftsman's Eye: Late Italian Renaissance Schools and Styles (Mar. 6-Apr. 22, 1979), no. 50, illus.
    The Graphic Art of Frederico Barocci. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 15-March 25, 1978); Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (April 15-June 4, 1978).
    CMA; New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery, The Graphic Art of Federico Barocci: Selected Drawings and Prints (1978), no. 2, illus.
    CMA, "Drawings from the Collection" (Dec. 1, 1970-Jan. 31, 1971; Mar. 16, 1971- (Gallery F remained open)).
    Italian Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-February 25, 1968).
    CMA, Italian Prints and Drawings (Jan. 30-Mar. 26, 1968).
    Old Master Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 29, 1966-February 28, 1967).
    CMA, Old Master Prints and Drawings (July 29, 1966-Jan. 10, 1967).
    Year in Review: 1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27-November 14, 1965).
    CMA, "Year in Review for 1965" (Oct. 27-Nov. 14, 1965), cma Bulletin 52 (1965), p. 155 no. 122.
  • {{cite web|title=Virgin and Child with St. Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Anne (?)|url=false|author=Battista Franco|year=c. 1545|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1965.16