Restored in 2025 with funding from Christopher Todd Page

This exquisite polychrome wooden sculpture of the Madonna and Child, carved from a single block of poplar wood, entered the collection of Vittorio Cini in the summer of 1960 and has since been housed at Palazzo Cini, San Vio, in Venice. Scholars generally agree in dating the artwork to the second half of the fourteenth century; its authorship, however, remains a matter of debate.

A few years after Vittorio Cini bought it, the sculpture was attributed to an unknown 14th-century Florentine sculptor. Building upon that initial attribution, the Cini Madonna was latter assigned to the circle of Alberto Arnoldi and Giovanni di Ambrogio, two sculptors active in Florence in the late 14th century. This attribution seemed fairly convincing to a number of scholars and connoisseurs up until the latest catalog of the Cini Gallery, in which the Madonna has been given to an unknown master from the south-central region of Abruzzo. This surprising new theory is worth examining in some detail.

The new attribution appears to be based on a very compelling comparison of the Cini Madonna with an extraordinary wood sculpture of Saint Michael the Archangel made in the late 14th century for the collegiate of Città Sant’Angelo nearby Pescara, Abruzzo. The stylistic affinities between the two works, already evident prior to the restoration of the Cini Madonna, have become even more compelling in its aftermath. A close comparison reveals striking correspondences in the facial types of the Virgin and Saint Michael: both are characterized by oval-shaped faces, slender and elongated noses, delicate modeled lips, and pointed chins, features that recur with remarkable consistency. Equally persuasive are the parallels in the handling of the drapery, where the mantles in both figures are articulated through sharply cut, overlapping folds, suggesting not only a shared formal language but potentially a common hand.

The conservation treatment, together with the scientific analyses that guided it, has clarified several uncertainties previously raised regarding the dating and authorship of some secondary elements of the Cini Madonna. This is notably the case with the book held by the Virgin in her right hand—a traditional iconographic attribute whose symbolism alludes to the Incarnation of Christ as the Word made flesh—as well as with the small bird perched on the Child’s lap, an intimate motif that reinforces the tender exchange between mother and son. Long believed to be later replacements, both elements have now been shown to belong to the original conception of the sculpture. Technical examination has demonstrated that the book was carved from the same block of wood as the Virgin’s arm, making it the only component secured to the main figure by an iron linchpin; similarly, the bird’s wood grain corresponds closely to that of the Child’s hand, confirming their contemporaneity and original execution.

The most striking revelations emerged from the study and cleaning of the sculpture’s polychrome surface, a process that yielded results of dramatic and transformative significance. Close examination revealed that both the Virgin’s dress and mantle had been extensively overpainted during successive conservation campaigns. The mantle, originally conceived in white and enriched with gilded floral decoration, was first repainted blue, while the dress, also originally white with floral ornament, was overpainted in red in accordance with the nineteenth-century New Gothic taste then in fashion. During a subsequent intervention, the blue overpainting was aggressively removed, resulting in the abrasion of the original white paint layer; similar damage affected the flesh tones of both figures, particularly that of the Child. In a later treatment, the sculpture was once again heavily overpainted, effectively obscuring what little remained of the original, delicately executed polychromy.

The most recent conservation campaign has produced remarkable results, allowing for the retention of the red dress, now considered an integral part of the artwork’s historical stratigraphy. At the same time, the treatment made it possible to stabilize and preserve the surviving traces of the original polychrome surface across the remainder of the sculpture.

The Cini Madonna was affected by numerous structural cracks and widespread lifting and flaking of the polychrome surface, conditions largely attributable to prolonged exposure to fluctuating humidity and temperature. Over the centuries, both the Virgin and the Christ Child were repeatedly repainted, resulting in the accumulation of multiple layers of non-original materials that obscured the sculpture’s original appearance. The wooden support had also been compromised by an active infestation of wood-boring insects.

Under the direction of Stefania Sartori, the recent conservation campaign systematically addressed these issues through structural stabilization, consolidation of the polychromy, and the removal of later additions where appropriate. At the same time, the accompanying scientific investigations proved crucial in reconstructing the artist’s original intent, contributing significantly to questions of dating and attribution and ultimately dispelling the long-held assumption that certain elements of the sculpture were later insertions.

Unidentified sculptor from Abruzzo (?)
Madonna and Child
c. 1350-1400, polychrome wood sculpture
183 x 47 x 51 cm
Palazzo Cini Gallery

Galleria di Palazzo Cini: Homepage

Campigli, Marco, Catalogue 53, in Bacchi, Andrea and Andrea De Marchi, eds. La Galleria di Palazzo Cini. Dipinti, sculture, oggetti d’arte. Venice: Marsilio, 2016, pp. 235-237

Paone, Stefania. “Tabernacoli dipinti e scultura lignea in Abruzzo. Il Maestro di Fossa e il Maestro del Crocifisso d’Argento.” Studi Medievali e Moderni, 15, 29-30 (2011): 45-68. Link to the article

Zeri, Federico. Confesso che ho sbagliato. Ricordi autobiografici. Milan: Tea, 1995, pp. 84

Zeri, Federico, Mauro Natale and Alessandra Mottola Molfino, eds. Dipinti toscani e oggetti d’arte dalla collezione Vittorio Cini. Vicenza: Neri Pozza Editore, 1984, pp. 41-42