Madonna and Child with a Cat

Leonardo Vinci, da (after)

Summary

A reproduction produced by the Vasari Society of a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. The drawing shows various sketches of a woman, young child and a cat. At the top centre of the composition the woman holds the child on the right and looks down at him, while the child cradles the cat in his arms. There is another sketch of the child and the cat, with the animal being held in the same way as in the central design. Below this an arrangement presents the woman standing and facing towards the right, with the child seated and looking up at her, and the animal standing in front of him. To the right of this and below are two more drawing of the child holding the cat against his shoulder to the left. In the upper of these two drawings the child holds his left arm (the one not supporting the cat) in the air and the artist has drawn in two possible angles for this gesture. In the lower drawing he supports the cat with both arms and has his leg to the right bent against him, and the one to the left is extended downwards. Against the right edge is a face in profile looking towards the right. The style is simple and shaded areas are marked by closely spaced lines. Text from the accompanying booklet produced by the Vasari Society: "No. 1 LEONARDO DA VINCI (b. 1452, d. 1519) SHEET WITH FIVE STUDIES FOR A MADONNA AND CHILD WITH CAT, AND HEAD OF A YOUTH IN PROFILE TO THE RIGHT British Museum, 1860-6-16-98. Pen and bistre. 27.3 x 19 cm. (10 3/4 x 7 1/2 in.) The various studies for a picture of the Madonna and Child with a Cat comprise, in addition to the above sheet, four other groups on two sheets in the British Museum, viz. 1857-1-10-1 recto and verso, and 1856-6-21-1 recto and verso, also a sheet of studies at Paris in the Collection of M. Bonnat, and a drawing in the Uffizi. The last represents the most mature conception of the subject, and this sheet probably immediately preceded it in point of time. There is no record of Leonardo ever having painted any such picture, but the studies for it all belong to the first Florentine period. There is a marked similarity between the type of the Virgin in this drawing and in the Galichon study for 'the Adoration of the Magi,' also between that in the Uffizi drawing of the Madonna and Child with Cat and in the picture of the Adoration. These resemblances seem to suggest that Leonardo worked at the two subjects contemporaneously. The head of a youth in profile is, as Mr. Berenson has pointed out, identical with several on a sheet at Windsor which, by comparison with a dated drawing, he ascribes to the year 1478. EDWARD McCURDY."