Provenance
Anonymous collection or dealer, Florence, sold c. 1780 to George Nassau Clavering-Cowper, 3rd Earl Cowper [1738-1789], Florence; by inheritance to George Augustus Clavering-Cowper, 4th Earl Cowper [d. 1799]; by inheritance to Peter Leopold Louis Francis Nassau Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper [d. 1837], Panshanger, Hertford, England; by inheritance to George Augustus Frederick Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper [d. 1856], Panshanger; by inheritance to Francis Thomas De Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper and 7th Baron Lucas [d. 1905], Panshanger and Wrest Park, Bedford, England; by inheritance to his widow, Katrine Cecilia Compton Cowper, Countess Cowper [d. 1913], Panshanger; by inheritance to Lady Ethel Desborough, granddaughter of the 6th Earl, Panshanger; sold 1913 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold 1914 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA.
Accession Number
1942.9.57
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
overall: 59.5 × 44 cm (23 7/16 × 17 5/16 in.) | framed: 86.2 × 71.44 × 13.34 cm (33 15/16 × 28 1/8 × 5 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Widener Collection
Background & Context
Background Story
The Small Cowper Madonna from c. 1505 is one of Raphael's early Florentine Madonnas, depicting the Virgin and Child in a landscape with the tender intimacy and compositional simplicity that characterize his earliest works in the genre. The c. 1505 date places this in the period when Raphael had just arrived in Florence and was absorbing the influence of Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna compositions, particularly the pyramidal arrangement and the sfumato (soft modeling) that Leonardo had developed. The 'Small' designation distinguishes this from the 'Large' Cowper Madonna, another Raphael painting in the same collection.
Cultural Impact
The Small Cowper Madonna is important in the development of Raphael's Madonna type because it shows the young artist absorbing the influence of Leonardo da Vinci while still maintaining his own Umbrian sweetness and compositional clarity. The painting's tender intimacy and simple landscape setting are characteristic of Raphael's earliest Florentine Madonnas, before the grandeur and complexity of his Roman period transformed the genre.
Why It Matters
The Small Cowper Madonna is young Raphael absorbing Leonardo: the Virgin and Child in a landscape with the tender intimacy and compositional simplicity that characterize his earliest Florentine Madonnas. The c. 1505 painting shows Raphael's Umbrian sweetness combining with Leonardo's pyramidal composition and sfumato modeling.
