A Pequena Madona Cowper (Madonna and Child, The Small Cowper Madonna, La Piccola Madonna‚ Cowper) - Rafael Sanzio

                                             
A Pequena Madona Cowper (Madonna and Child, The Small Cowper Madonna, La Piccola Madonna‚ Cowper) - Rafael Sanzio
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Estados Unidos
Óleo sobre madeira - 58x43 - 1504-1505



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.
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 right hand side of the painting is the church of San Bernardino, where the Dukes of Urbino (where Raphael was born) were buried, and it has been suggested that the presence of the church means the painting may have been "commissioned by the family for devotional purposes." At the same time, it could just be Raphael drawing on memories of the church, which would have been near where he grew up in Urbino.
Sitting in the center of the work in a bright red dress is the Madonna. She is fair skinned with blonde hair. She sits comfortably on a wooden bench. Across her lap is a dark drapery upon which her right hand delicately sits. There appears to be a sheer translucent ribbon elegantly flowing across the top of her dress and behind her head. The faintest golden halo miraculously surrounds her head. In her left hand she holds the baby Christ, who embraces her with one arm around her back, the other around her neck. He, an undeniably precious child, looks back over his shoulder with a coy smile. Behind them, a beautifully clear and bright day unfolds. Off in the distance two figures appear to be ambling toward a reflective pond, enjoying the green scenery around them. A large and very impressing structure stands at the end of a long path, which one could presume to be a Catholic church. Its dome and other structural elements common of Catholic architecture add to the already omnipresent atmosphere of religious divinity and grace.
The “Small Cowper Madonna” by Raphael depicts Mary and the Christ Child, in a 1500s Italian countryside. It was painted around 1505 during the High Renaissance. The composition is centred on the seated Madonna in a bright red dress; she is shown with fair skin and blonde hair. She is sitting comfortably on a wooden bench and across her lap is a dark blue drapery upon which her right hand delicately rests. There is also a sheer translucent ribbon elegantly flowing across the top of her dress and behind her head. The faintest golden halo miraculously surrounds her head. In her left hand, she holds the baby Christ, who embraces her with one arm around her back, the other around her neck. He also has blonde hair and is looking back over his shoulder with a coy smile.
Behind Mary and the Christ Child is a clear and bright day with a lake on the left in the background and on the right is a large impressive structure that looks like a Catholic church. Its dome and other structural elements are typical to Catholic architecture which all add to the atmosphere of religious divinity and grace. It is not known precisely 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 right-hand side of the painting is the church of San Bernardino, where Raphael was born and near where he grew up in Urbino. In this painting, Raphael expresses the influence of Leonardo in a broad, soft landscape.
This painting is known as the “Small Cowper Madonna” because it was the smaller of the two Raphael Madonna paintings owned by the English collector Lord Cowper (1738 -1789).
The Large Cowper Madonna is also known as the “Niccolini-Cowper Madonna” it is larger and depicts Mary and Child, against a darker blue sky. Cowper’s art collection absorbed a great deal of his time and money, and his most important possessions were the two Raphael Madonnas acquired in the late 1700s. Today, both of these Raphael masterpieces are in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.