The bas-relief “Madonna and Child” is considered the jewel in the crown of the Tambov Art Gallery. This work embodied the traditional Eleusa iconographic type, depicting the Virgin of Tenderness with the baby in her arms.
The history of the marble bas-relief “Madonna and Child” is shrouded in mystery. In the early 1860s, the bas-relief was purchased by a certain gentleman named Rudtsky in Arezzo, Italy, for the Warsaw collector Karnitsky. In 1876, after Karnitsky had died, the bas-relief was bought by the Russian doctor, writer, art critic, and traveler Alexey Vladimirovich Vysheslavtsev (1831–1888). He went to Italy to verify the origin of his acquisition. After a careful study of the history of the sculpture, the opinions and reviews from art connoisseurs, and finally, the stylistic features of the bas-relief, Vysheslavtsev became convinced that the piece had been created by Donatello.
After Alexey Vysheslavtsev’s death, his sister donated the “crown jewel of his collection” to the art department of the Special Library of the Tambov Public Readings Society, and the bas-relief became the property of the city. Many years later, the sculpture came to the attention again, this time of an expert from the Hermitage. In the 1970s, the Art History Doctor Sergey Olegovich Androsov, who was a junior researcher at the Hermitage back then, came to Tambov to study the bas-relief. Androsov’s research resulted in a discovery, which he presented at a conference of young researchers in the Hermitage in April 1975. Androsov based his opinion on modern research in the field of Italian sculpture and the publication of the English art historian John Pope-Hennessy in particular. Somewhat entering into the polemics with the latter, Androsov provided convincing evidence that the bas-relief from Tambov was the work of the 19th-century Italian sculptor Giovanni Bastianini (1830–1868), a talented forger of Renaissance sculpture.
The fate of Giovanni Bastianini is truly dramatic. It was as if God himself helped him to adopt the techniques and skills of the Quattrocento masters and understand the spirit of that distant era. Bastianini’s unnamed works in the early Renaissance style became the object of increased interest among connoisseurs and collectors. The sculptor was the one to expose himself, seeking recognition of his true talent and skill. The controversy ended only after the sculptor’s untimely death.
Of course, it was a pity to part with the belief that the work had been created by Donatello. Still, the gallery now houses the work of an outstanding and interesting master.
The history of the marble bas-relief “Madonna and Child” is shrouded in mystery. In the early 1860s, the bas-relief was purchased by a certain gentleman named Rudtsky in Arezzo, Italy, for the Warsaw collector Karnitsky. In 1876, after Karnitsky had died, the bas-relief was bought by the Russian doctor, writer, art critic, and traveler Alexey Vladimirovich Vysheslavtsev (1831–1888). He went to Italy to verify the origin of his acquisition. After a careful study of the history of the sculpture, the opinions and reviews from art connoisseurs, and finally, the stylistic features of the bas-relief, Vysheslavtsev became convinced that the piece had been created by Donatello.
After Alexey Vysheslavtsev’s death, his sister donated the “crown jewel of his collection” to the art department of the Special Library of the Tambov Public Readings Society, and the bas-relief became the property of the city. Many years later, the sculpture came to the attention again, this time of an expert from the Hermitage. In the 1970s, the Art History Doctor Sergey Olegovich Androsov, who was a junior researcher at the Hermitage back then, came to Tambov to study the bas-relief. Androsov’s research resulted in a discovery, which he presented at a conference of young researchers in the Hermitage in April 1975. Androsov based his opinion on modern research in the field of Italian sculpture and the publication of the English art historian John Pope-Hennessy in particular. Somewhat entering into the polemics with the latter, Androsov provided convincing evidence that the bas-relief from Tambov was the work of the 19th-century Italian sculptor Giovanni Bastianini (1830–1868), a talented forger of Renaissance sculpture.
The fate of Giovanni Bastianini is truly dramatic. It was as if God himself helped him to adopt the techniques and skills of the Quattrocento masters and understand the spirit of that distant era. Bastianini’s unnamed works in the early Renaissance style became the object of increased interest among connoisseurs and collectors. The sculptor was the one to expose himself, seeking recognition of his true talent and skill. The controversy ended only after the sculptor’s untimely death.
Of course, it was a pity to part with the belief that the work had been created by Donatello. Still, the gallery now houses the work of an outstanding and interesting master.
