Description
This is a 1938 print of the Adoration of the Child by Piero Di Cosimo with a story of its acquisition by a Toledo museum.
Year Published: 1938
Approximate overall size – inches: 10 x 13
Grade: Excellent
Text:
“Tradition has it that this famous example of Piero di Cosimo’s work (prob-
ably painted about 1495) was given by Lorenzo de’ Medici to a lady of the
Guiducci family. Its richness of color is matched by its richness in detail, which is noticeable in the flowers, the landscape, the little bird perched on the rock beside the sleeping child. The Virgin’s book is legible in the actual painting, which is sixty-three indies in diameter. It was acquired in 1937 to strengthen Toledo’s representation of Italian Renaissance painting, already distinguished by a Filippino Lippi. Di Cosimo has been called, “with the sole exception of Botticelli,” the most striking interpreter of the romantic side of the Renaissance spirit. The fact that The Adoration had been long cherished in English collections may have accounted for the unusual publicity it received when it came to America. The Illustrated London News gave it a great send-off, which included a page of illustrations of its various details. Some 300 newspapers and art magazines here and abroad published stories about it.”
This is a 86 yr. old original print removed from a 1938 publication and is not a reproduction of any kind.
