Title

Virgin and Child (Madonna with a Parrot)

Gallego, Fernando (Salamanca. Active 1468-1507)

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Object history

There is no news about this painting before it was auctioned at hôtel Drouot, Paris, on March 27, 2000, when it was acquired by the musée du Louvre. It is said that, previously, it belonged to a private French collection of which no further information is provided. There is also no news about the ultimate origin of this painting. Since there is consensus in its attribution to Fernando Gallego, it can be assumed that it comes from Castile and León, given that this artist, active in Salamanca, worked preferably for the southwest of the territory of the current autonomous community of Castile and León. However, his activity in Extremadura is also documented, so it cannot be ruled out that it comes from this autonomous community.

Description

The painting, which has suffered cuts in its perimeter that are difficult to assess (although the presence of a trompe l'oeil phylactery in the lower part whose width is consistent with the current state of the work invites us to think that these cuts are not significant), shows, inside a room with Fernando Gallego's characteristic wall inarticulation, the seated figure of the Virgin holding the Child on her lap. Her figure is disproportionately large: it occupies practically all the available space and, if it were raised, it would exceed the ceiling. She is seated on a bench that cannot be seen, as only the voluminous cushions that make the seat more comfortable can be seen. She is flanked at the top by two angels in flight. The one on the right holds a crown above the Virgin's head, while the one on the left simply joins his hands in a gesture of prayer.

The most striking feature of this painting is undoubtedly the figure of the Child, who plays with the parrot that has served to give the work its title. The presence of a bird as a child's entertainment of Christ is frequent in Gothic art since the 14th century and has given rise to various symbolic interpretations. What is not so frequent is that the bird is an exotic bird such as a parrot: there are illustrious precedents, such as the Virgin and Child of Canon Van der Paele by Jan van Eyck or the Virgin and Child with a Parrot by Martin Schonaguer, but none is exactly comparable to Gallego's panel. In this one, Christ caresses the parrot with his right hand while holding it captive by a string tied to the animal's left leg, which He holds with his left hand and which prevents the bird from escaping. It is a children's entertainment (somewhat cruel, no doubt, for the sensibility of our days) that can be documented from Classical Antiquity to, at least, Goya.

The parrot has been interpreted as an allusion to the virginal maternity of Mary or, because of its ability to imitate human speech, as a reference to the Divine Word.

It is thought that this painting could have been the central panel of a Marian altarpiece and both Lorentz, on behalf of the Louvre Museum, and Silva Maroto place its execution in the decade of 1480 (which would make it contemporary with Gallego's work in the main altarpiece of the cathedral of Ciudad Rodrigo).

Locations

• XV^th c. - XX^th c.

  region

  Possible origin from Castile and Leon, Castilla y León (Spain)

• XX^th c. - 2000

  private collection

  Private Collection France, France (France) *

• 2000

  auction house

  Hotel Drouot, Paris (France)

• 2000 - present

  museum

  Louvre Museum, Paris (France)