Adoration of the Christ Child

Dateca. 1475

Maker Gherardo di Giovanni del Fora Italian, Florence, 1445-1497

Label TextCoinciding with the Renaissance fascination with the circle, the tondo—or round image, derived from the Italian rotondo—became popular in Florence during the second half of the fifteenth century. Although most tondi were devotional objects, they generally adorned residences rather than churches. Installed above eye level, the tondo was like a window to a heavenly realm where viewers could observe the exemplary actions of beautifully painted holy figures. The oil medium, popularized in Italy in the second half of the fifteenth century, gave the images a new naturalism, with figures that seemed more lifelike than the upright figures in the traditional altarpiece format.

Object number53.86

ProvenanceColonel Rt. Hon. C.F. Greville, England, to 1810; Colonel Thomas Hamlet, England, 1810-1863; Colonel C. Smith, England, 1863-1876; Earl of Dudley, England, from 1876; Lord Viscount d'Abernon (died 1941), England, to 1929; Leopold Davis, from 1929; [Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, to 1953]; Ivan L. Best (died 1979), Portland, Oregon; gift to Seattle Art Museum, April 3, 1953

Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia

Published ReferencesWilhelm Suida in Leonardo da Vinci Loan Exhibition, exh. cat. Los Angeles County Museum 1949, pp. 72-73, no. 3 (as Domenico Ghirlandaio; notes Berenson “believes that this is an early work by Domenico Ghirlandaio, close to the S. Fina frescoes at S. Gimignano). 2500 Years of Italian Art and Civilization, exh. cat., Seattle 1957, cat. 74, fig. 35 (as Domenico Ghirlandaio). Everett Fahy, "Early Italian Pictures in the Gambier-Parry Collection,” Burlington Magazine, vol. 109, no. 768 (March 1967): 132 (as Gherardo). Rosenfeld, Myra Nan, "A Florentine Quattrocento Altarpiece: Witness to Artistic, Religious, Trends," M26 The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Fall 1975): pp. 12-13, fig. 10.

Credit LineGift of Mr. Ivan L. Best in memory of Mrs. Best

DimensionsDiameter 35 1/2 in.

MediumOil on wood panel