Madonna del cardellino
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| Madonna del cardellino (Madonna of the Goldfinch) |
| Raphael, 1506 |
| Oil on wood |
| 107 × 77 cm |
| Uffizi, Florence |
The Madonna del cardellino, or the Madonna of the Goldfinch, is a painting by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael.
In this painting, as in most of the Madonnas of his Florentine period, Raphael arranged the three figures - Mary, Christ and the young John the Baptist - to fit into a geometrical design. Though the positions of the three bodies are natural, together they form an almost regular triangle.
The Madonna was a wedding gift from Raphael to his friend Lorenzo Nasi. On November 17, 1548 Nasi's house was destroyed by an earthquake and the painting broke into three pieces. It was restored shortly afterwards, but the damage is still visible.
The Madonna del cardellino is currently being restored in the Fortezza Da Basso in Florence, Italy. It is not currently on display, and the damage is still visible. It will take another year to fully restore the painting, but the damage from the earthquake will be visible through watercolors painted over the original. Of the damaged part is the ear of John the Baptist. Once restored before, the ear is a copy of the original by Raphael. Restorers today are contemplating keeping the copied ear because it is the only reference they have to the original.
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