This Virgin Mary, Infant Christ, and the young St. John the Baptist, an unexpected treasure from the church of Saint Félix at Champigny-en-Beauce, north of Blois, was long thought to be a 19th century copy but has recently been authenticated as an original 16th century piece from the studio of Italian painter Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), one of the great Renaissance masters.
The painting shows the Virgin Mary leaning forwards as the Infant Jesus is embraced by the young St. John the Baptist. The Madonna’s curved posture and her closed, melancholy gaze seem to show her weighed down in acceptance of the impending drama of her son whose destiny it is to be sacrificed on the cross.
The painting is related to two others, one of which is housed in the Pitti Palace in Florence and the other in the Barber Institute in Birmingham (UK). The same figures are present, the same oil and tempera technique was used and all have a canvas support, but the Florence painting shows a different background with the figures reversed.
The painstaking restoration work carried out in 2021-2022 helped determine how the painting journeyed to the Loir-et-Cher. Like the painting in Birmingham, this Virgin and Child was made around 1510 by students in the Botticelli studio, based on the Florentine original and no doubt under the master’s supervision. It was sold several times before arriving in France in the 19th century and finally gifted to the church of Saint Félix by the family of François-Philibert Dessaignes, Deputy for the Loir-et-Cher department and Mayor of Champigny-en-Beauce.
The painting is on loan for a period of two years to Chambord from the commune of Champigny-en-Beauce, which has owned the work since 1906.