Small Cowper Madonna [SEP] creator
Small Cowper Madonna
The Small Cowper Madonna is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael, depicting Mary and Child, in a typical Italian countryside. It has been dated to around 1505, the middle of the High Renaissance.
Story.
It is not known exactly why the "Small Cowper Madonna" was painted. It was probably either a private commission or for the general art market; images of the Madonna and Child were often given as wedding presents. It is widely thought that the church on the
- sold for $875,000 in 1928 to Duveen Brothers, London, New York, and Paris, who purchased "The Small Cowper Madonna" from Lady Ethel Grenfall of Desborough in 1913.
- sold for $1,166,000 in November 1928 to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. (1855–1937)
- deeded 30 December 1930 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh
- gifted in 1937 to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC
Story.
Cowper's art collection absorbed a