The Virgin Nursing the Christ Child

Artist Guido Reni Italian, 1575–1642

Datecirca 1628–1630

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions45 x 36 in. (114.3 x 91.4 cm)
Frame: 61 7/8 x 53 3/8 in. (157.2 x 135.6 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lee Humber in memory of their daughter, Eileen Genevieve

Object numberG.55.12.1

On View

On view

Provenance[possibly Contessa Vittoria Colonna, Rome; by descent to her son] Don Juan Alfonso Enríquez de Cabrera, Fifth Duke of Medina de Rioseco, 8th Count of Melgar, 9th First Admiral of Castille, Gentleman of the chamber to Philip IV [Spanish ambassador to Rome/Holy See; Philip IV, King of Spain, perhaps between 1646 and 1657; Royal chapel, Escorial, by 1657; [given by “King Joseph Bonaparte to General Sebastiani (Gen. Horace François Bastien, Baron Sebastiani (1772–1851)]; Cavalieri Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1884); Samuel Woodburn (1786–1853), London, who sold it to; Robert Stayner Holford (1808–1892), Westonbirt, Gloucestershire and Dorchester House, Park Lane, London, England, by 1839; by descent to his son Sir George Lindsay Holford (1860–1926); sold at Christie’s, July 15, 1927, lot 69, as Benedetto Luti [“previously called Guido Reni, and now ascribed to Benedetto Luti by Venturi”] to Thirle (?); Christie’s, London December 18, 1953, lot 87 [bought in?], and March 5, 1954, lot 554, sold; [Adolfo?] Werner, [Milan]; David M. Koetser, New York, by October 1954; sold to NCMA, 1955.Published ReferencesPedro de Madrazo y Kuntz, Viaje artistico de tres siglos por las collecciones de cuadros de los reyes de Espana (Barcelona: 1884), 299.

Cesareo Fernandez Duro, El Ultimo Almirante de Castilla: Don Juan Tornas Enriquez de Cabrera (Madrid: 1903), no. 125.

Holford Collection Catalogue (1924), cat. no. 67.

Robert Benson, ed., The Holford Collection: Dorchester House, Vol. 1 (Oxford: University Press, 1927). [Painting not mentioned or illus.]

F. J. Canton Sanchez, ed, In Fuentes literarias para la historia del arte español, Vol. 2, Padre Francisco de los Santos. Descripcion del Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial, 1st ed., 1657 (Madrid: 1933).

Atillio Podesta, "La mostra di Guido Reni," Emporium 129, no. 179 (November 1954), 206, illus.

Gian Carlo Cavalli , Andrea Emiliani and Lidia Puglioli Mandelli, Mostra di Guido Reni (exhibition catalogue) (Bologna: Edizioni Alfa, 1954), cat. no. 33 (as Madonna che Allatta il Bambino).

Cesare Gnudi, Guido Reni (Milan: Aldo Martello, 1955), illus. (color) pl. 7.

Cesare Gnudi, Guido Reni (Florence: Vallecchi, 1955), 80, illus. pl. 120, (detail) pl. 121.

Betty Chamberlain, "North Carolina: First state-initiated collection: How to get and spend a million dollars for art," Art News 55, no. 2 (April 1956), 41, illus.

W. R. Valentiner, Catalogue of Paintings: Including Three Sets of Tapestries (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1956), no. 194, illus. (b-w).

Dennis Mahon, "Some Suggestions for Reni's Chronology," Burlington Magazine 99, no. 652 (July 1957), 238, 241(note no. 12.

Tarheel Banker (December 1961), illus. cover.

Time (August 10, 1962), illus. (color) 42.

William M. Milliken, Fine Arts Exhibition: Masterpieces of Art (exhibition catalogue) (Seattle: Seattle World's Fair, 1962), cat. no. 63, illus. 141.

"Loans from the Museum Collections," North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 4, nos. 2 and 3 (Winter-Spring 1964), mentioned 10.

St. Mary's College Bulletin (December 1964), illus. cover.

Gregorio de Andres, ed., Documentos para la historia del Monasterio de San Lorenzo en Real de Escorial. Jacques Chifflet. "Relacion de la estancia de Felipe IV en el Escorial" (Madrid: 1964).

Gilberte Martin-Mery, La Femme et L'artiste de Bellini a Picasso (exhibition catalogue) (France: Musee de Bordeaux, 1964), cat. no. 39, illus. VII, pl. 5.

Charles W. Stanford, Masterpieces in the North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1966), no. 33, illus. (color).

D. Stephen Pepper, "A Rediscovered Painting by Guido Reni," Apollo 90, no. 91 (September 1969), 210, illus. 211, pl. 4.

Cesare Garboli, L'opera completa di Guido reni, Edi Baccheschi, ed. (Milan: Rizzoli Editore, 1971), cat. no. 139, illus.

JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 242, no. 25 (December 1979), illus. cover.

Elizabeth Ann Nicklas, "Velasquez and the Decoration of the Sacristy in the Escorial," Master's thesis, New York University, 1980.

We the People of North Carolina 40, no. 12 (December 1982), 14, illus. cover.

Edgar Peters Bowron, ed., Introduction to the Collections (Chapel Hill: published for the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, by The University of North Carolina Press, 1983), illus. (color) 15.

D. Stephen Pepper, Guido Reni: A Complete Catalogue of His Works with an Introductory Text (Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1984), cat. no. 119, illus. 259, pl. 148.

Israel Shenker, "Denis Mahon and His Old Friends," Art News 86, no. 3 (March 1987), 124, illus. (color) 3, 126.

"Appearances are Deceptive: Archetypal female portraits." Lufthansa Bordbuch (June, 1988), 76, illus.

David Steel, "A Bolognese Legacy," North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Winter, 1991-1992): 6, illus. (color) cover, (b-w) 6.

Independent (December 1992), illus. for the classical recording for Fortuna recordings, 1991 Christmas concerts.

Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus. (color) x and 186.

Richard E. Spear, The "Divine" Guido: Religion, Sex, Money and Art in the World of Guido Reni (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997), illus. 147.

Marion Wheeler, Her Face: Images of the Virgin Mary in Art (Cobb, CA: First Glance Books, 1998), illus. (b-w) 147, (color detail), 49.

David Steel, entry for Madonna and Child, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, Rebecca Martin Nagy, ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1998), 138, illus. (color).

Caitlin Cleary, "Their art's desire," Raleigh: The News and Observer (August 1, 2004), mentioned 6G.

Jakob Bidermann, Christlicher Kosmos: 100 Epigramme (Eggingen: Edition Isele, 2003), illus. (color) facing 128.

David Steel, entry for Madonna and Child, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2010), 288, illus. (color) 289.

Jonathan Fleischmann, Heaven is a Woman (Part 3), in Missio Immaculatæ International 9, no. 4 (July/August 2013), illus. (color) 11.

Caroline M. Rocheleau, “Sacred Motherhood: Mother-and-Child Representations from the Permanent Collection,” in North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Summer 2014), mentioned and illus.
(color) 20.

Lyle Humphrey, "Saul Among the Prophets: W.R. Valentiner, Robert L. Humber, Carl W. Hamilton, and the Italian Collection at the NCMA," Lisandra Estevez, ed., Collecting Early Modern Art (1400-1800) in the U.S. South (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021), 36.

David M. Stone, Guercino's Friar with a Gold Earring: Fra Bonaventura Bisi, Painter and Art Dealer (New York: Scala Arts Publishers, 2023) 135, illus (color) 25.Exhibition HistoryBritish Institution, 1839, cat. no. 49; and 1848, cat. no. 3. The latter (described as a Holy Family) may not be identical to NCMA painting, since R. S. Holford also owned a small copper of similar subject (Holy Family, but with St. John) attributed to Reni (exhibited 1887, no. 116.)

Bologna, Italy Palazzo dell’ Archiginnasio, “Mostra di Guido Reni,” 1954, 92, cat. no. 33, text by G. C. Cavalli and C. Gnudi.

Seattle, WA, Seattle World’s Fair, “Masterpieces of Art,” April 21–September 4, 1962, cat. no. 63.

Musee de Bordeaux, “La Femme et L’Artiste de Belline a Picasso,” May 22–September 20, 1964, cat. no. 39, illus. pl. 5.

Richmond, VA, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, “Masterpieces from the North Carolina Museum of Art,” March 11–April 13, 1975.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “Sacred Motherhood: Mother-and-Child Representations from the Permanent Collection,” May 4–December 7, 2014.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–August 27, 2023.

Sarasota, FL, The John & Mabel Ringling Museum of Art, "Guercino's 'Friar with a Gold Earring': Fra Bonaventura Bisi, Painter and Art Dealer," October 15, 2023-January 7, 2024.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," June 11, 2024-present. Object Rights Statement

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