{"id":4294,"date":"2025-03-24T13:40:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T17:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/?p=4294"},"modified":"2025-03-24T14:20:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T18:20:06","slug":"giovanni-battista-salvi-madonna-of-the-cherubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/giovanni-battista-salvi-madonna-of-the-cherubs\/","title":{"rendered":"Giovanni Battista Salvi Madonna of the Cherubs"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25{max-width:100%;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;}.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-dir-horizontal:not(.kb-section-md-dir-vertical)>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25{-webkit-flex:0 1 100%;flex:0 1 100%;max-width:unset;margin-left:unset;margin-right:unset;}.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25{position:relative;}@media all and (min-width: 1025px){.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-dir-horizontal>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25{-webkit-flex:0 1 100%;flex:0 1 100%;max-width:unset;margin-left:unset;margin-right:unset;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-sm-dir-vertical:not(.kb-section-sm-dir-horizontal):not(.kb-section-sm-dir-specificity)>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25{max-width:100%;-webkit-flex:1;flex:1;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;}.kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column4294_1acb3f-25 mobile-section\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"774\" height=\"114\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo.png\" alt=\"Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch Collection\" class=\"wp-image-2922\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo.png 774w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo-300x44.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo-768x113.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4294_83e3ca-0c .kt-block-spacer{height:60px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4294_83e3ca-0c .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#f1f1f1;width:100%;border-top-style:solid;}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4294_83e3ca-0c .kt-divider{width:100%!important;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-4294_83e3ca-0c\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\" \/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>Giovanni Battista Salvi (Sassoferrato) (1609\u201385)<\/strong><br><em>Madonna of the Cherubs<\/em>, c. 1650<br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil on canvas<br>McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, 1988.72<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/sassoferrato.jpg\" alt=\"Madonna of the Cherubs\" class=\"wp-image-4295\" style=\"width:1202px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/sassoferrato.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/sassoferrato-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/sassoferrato-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/sassoferrato-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-not-stacked-on-mobile has-background is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"background-color:#f1f1f1\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong>Stephanie C. Leone<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><br>Professor, Art History<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/leone.jpg\" alt=\"Stephanie C. Leone\" class=\"wp-image-4288\" style=\"width:78px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/leone.jpg 200w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/leone-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"924\" height=\"1342\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/reni2.jpg\" alt=\"The Immaculate Conception\" class=\"wp-image-4296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/reni2.jpg 924w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/reni2-207x300.jpg 207w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/reni2-705x1024.jpg 705w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/reni2-768x1115.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 924px) 100vw, 924px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Guido Reni (1575\u20131642),&nbsp;<em>The Immaculate Conception<\/em>, 1627. Oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>Framed by the cherubic messengers and the golden light of heaven, the Virgin Mary gracefully shifts her shoulders and lifts her head, eyes, and\u2014we sense\u2014mind to God. The rotation is stilled by her praying hands that gently stabilize her figure and crystalize her complete devotion. The brushstrokes of oil paint are applied smoothly to form the perfect contours of her face, and earth pigments are blended into her creamy-rosy complexion to depict soft shadows. The texture of the drapery is slightly rougher, hinting at the material world. Mary is at once corporeal and ethereal, the perfect embodiment of the union between the sacred and the earthly in the mother of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Born in the rural region of the Marche, northeast of Rome, Giovanni Battista Salvi, known as Sassoferrato after his hometown, was out of step with the exuberant baroque art of his time, but his paintings tell us much about Catholic devotional culture. He formulated a unique style through studying the Renaissance painters, Perugino, Andrea del Sarto, and especially Raphael, and classically minded seventeenth-century painters, such as Domenichino and Guido Reni, but restrained their palettes, compositions, and sense of energy. Sassoferrato dedicated himself to making images of the Virgin Mary. He developed a handful of types and repeated the compositions with small variations. At the time of his death, his inventory recorded 105 paintings in his possession, of which seventy were Madonna images.<sup>1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a Boston College undergraduate, Christine Papastamelos \u201914, interpreted Sassoferrato\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Madonna of the Cherubs<\/em>&nbsp;in the context of the Catholic Reformation: \u201cThe image of Mary as heaven bound and without child epitomizes the [Catholic] Marian theological position of the seventeenth century.\u201d The painting celebrates Mary\u2019s essential role in salvation and the grace that God uniquely bestowed upon her. Sassoferrato\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Madonna of the Cherubs<\/em>&nbsp;is a short-hand version of the iconography of the Immaculate Conception, the belief that the Virgin Mary was exempt from original sin. Due to its size, the painting most likely functioned as a devotional work in a private setting, in comparison to Reni\u2019s full length&nbsp;<em>Conception<\/em>&nbsp;(see image) that codified this iconography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sassoferrato\u2019s Madonnas appealed to the Catholic faithful during his own day as well as succeeding centuries, with numerous popes prizing his paintings. Pius VII (1800\u201323) had a print made of his&nbsp;<em>Madonna in Prayer<\/em>&nbsp;to disseminate the image widely. The provenance of Boston College\u2019s painting is unknown until 1947 when it was recorded in a photograph of Bapst Library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Praying hands were a key motif for Sassoferrato, and the McMullen Museum owns&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bcweb.bc.edu\/mcmullen\/1993.2.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">his drawing<\/a>&nbsp;of this theme.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-ub-divider ub_divider ub-divider-orientation-horizontal\" id=\"ub_divider_0e9ab972-aa1a-43ea-867f-1320ee5d7e33\"><div class=\"ub_divider_wrapper\" style=\"position: relative; margin-bottom: 2px; width: 100%; height: 2px; \" data-divider-alignment=\"center\"><div class=\"ub_divider_line\" style=\"border-top: 2px solid #ccc; margin-top: 2px; \"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>1. Patrizia Cavazzini, \u201cL\u2019inventario della morte di Sassoferrato e il problema delle copie,\u201d in&nbsp;<em>Sassoferrato, Pictor Virginum: Nuovi studi e documenti per Giovan Battista Salvi<\/em>, ed. Cecilia Prete (Ancona: Il lavoro editoriale, Istituto Internazionale di Studi Piceni, 2009), 56\u201369.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4294_b8589c-de .kt-block-spacer{height:60px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4294_b8589c-de .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#f1f1f1;width:100%;border-top-style:solid;}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4294_b8589c-de .kt-divider{width:100%!important;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-4294_b8589c-de\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\" \/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"383\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-1024x383.png\" alt=\"Logo Gold\" class=\"wp-image-2910\" style=\"width:569px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-1024x383.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-300x112.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-768x287.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Giovanni Battista Salvi (Sassoferrato) (1609\u201385)Madonna of the Cherubs, c. 1650 Oil on canvasMcMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, 1988.72 Stephanie C. LeoneProfessor, Art History Framed by the cherubic messengers and the golden light of heaven, the Virgin Mary gracefully shifts her shoulders and lifts her head, eyes, and\u2014we sense\u2014mind to God. The rotation is stilled [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140560,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"margaret-sandbox","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/author\/margaret-sandbox\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140560"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4294"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4301,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4294\/revisions\/4301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}