Critical itinerary: The painting, along with a half figure of the Madonna analogue in style, pictorial technique and dimensions, was noted in Rome in the Collection at Chigi Palace in Corso Street for the first time in 1912 by Ricci, attributing it to Pinturicchio, which was never later discussed; following this it is remembered by Gnoli in 1923, by Van Marle in 1933, by Incisa della Rochetta in 1947, by Strinati in 1981, by Todini in 1989, by Nucciarelli in 1998, by Acidini Luchinat and Gualdi in 1999, by Scarpellini and Silvestrelli in 2003. In 2004 Nucciarelli notices the "Bambin Gesù delle Mani" on the antique circuit and on the 18th of July informs the "Giornale dell'Umbria" (the Umbrian Newspaper). Apart from Incisa della Rochetta who dedicates a long and detailed article to the two fragments of the fresco, often mentioned, but never discussed in depth, almost submerged in the river of bibliographies on Pinturicchio, the other scholars don't go beyond a simple citation. None the less it is possible to individuate some directions in the reviews: while most of the scholars don't hold a position as to the place of origin, Strinati, Todini and Acidini Luchinat hypothesise that the Madonna and Bambin Gesù originally belonged to the great cloister of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. According to Strinati and Todini it comes from the work "Madonna, santi e il cardinale Raffaelle Riario", according to Acidini Luchinat, however, it originates from "Adorazione dei Magi". If we accept these hypotheses it follows that they date back to 1502. Ricci, however, considering the date, believed it to be 1486. The first to notice the similarities in style of the two fragments to the Borgia apartments was Gualdi, thus dating it to 1492-1494, a hypothesis later adopted by Silvestrelli but considering only the Madonna. From Incisa della Rochetta's research of the archive the two fragments result as having been noted in the cardinal Flavio Chigo's collection as far back as 1693; it also emerges that the writing on the edge of the Madonna's cloak had interested Alessandro VII (Fabio Chigi) the uncle of the cardinal in whose possession for the first time the works, the Madonna and the Bambin Gesù delle mani, are attributed to Perugino. Only Incisa della Rochetta in 1947 is able to connect the two separate frescos to a single composition to identify with the Madonna with Child and a worshipping pope Alessandro VI described by Giorgio Vasari, as well as other C16th and C17th sources, as mentioned above regarding a room in the Borgia apartments: this information reported by Vasari, even if assessed in different ways, reappears a number of times up to our days, both in specialist studies and in popular works. Incisa della Rochetta's reconstruction in the Pinturicchio bibliography is almost without any follow up.

Route: As a result of Alessandro VII's interest in the writing on the Madonna's clothes and the presence of the work in the Chigi Collection from the second half of the C17th till recent times, the hypothesis that the work was removed from its original place in the Borgia apartments under the pontificate of Alessandro VII (1655-1666) seems founded. From the Chigi family, with the marriage of Eleonora, the prince don Mario Chigi Albani della Rovere's daughter, to Enrico Incisa della Rochetta, Bambin Gesù delle Mani and maybe also the Madonna, are certainly passed to the Incisa della Rochetta family and later to other descendants.
Once individuated on the antique circuit, in November 2004, it is acquired by the Margaritelli Group, which entrusts it to the studies and analyses of the Guglielmo Giordano Foundation.

Bibliography: Ricci (1912, p.336), Gnoli (1923, p.297), Van Marle (1933, XIV, p.284), Incisa della Rocchetta (1947), Strinati (1981, pp.97-98), Todini (1989, p.295), Nucciarelli (1998, p.295), Acidini Luchinat (1999, p.50), Gualdi (1999, p.10), Scarpellini (2003, p.226), Silvestrelli (2003, p.121), Scarpellini e Silvestrelli (2003, p.318), Nucciarelli (2004, p.1, p.39).

Table of Contents Author: Bernadino di Betto, known as Pinturicchio (Perugia between 1454 and 1460? – Siena 1513)

Table of Contents

Author: Bernadino di Betto, known as Pinturicchio (Perugia between 1454 and 1460? – Siena 1513)