Virgin and Child with SS. Dominic and Barbara
Padre Ferdinando Francesco Sampieri (d. 1787), Bologna; from whom inherited in 1787, Luigi Sampiere (1758-1797); from whom inherited, Francesco Sampieri; from whom purchased by Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg, Munich; Leuchtenberg Gallery, St. Petersburg (according to Sulley invoice); Sulley & Co., London; from whom purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 15 March 1907.
The wood label on bottom center of frame reads, "Francesco Raibolini, called Francia".
The Virgin and Child with S. Dominic at her right and Saint Barbara at her left. St. Barbara is holding an arrow and a tower. S. Dominic holds a lily and a book. He wears the religious garb of the Domenican order.
The lily may signify St. Dominic's purity while the tower represents St. Barbara's martyrdom, her incarceration by her father.
Although trained as a goldsmith, Francesco Francia primarily worked as a painter in and around his hometown of Bologna. Depictions of the Virgin and child with saints are predominant among his major surviving works. When he painted this panel, the artist was influenced by the luminous style of his contemporary, Perugino, whose work can also be seen in this room. Here, the Virgin and child are flanked at right by St. Dominic, who holds a lily and a book, and at left by St. Barbara, who holds an arrow and a tower. St. Dominic founded the Dominican Order of Preachers in the 13th century. St. Barbara, according to legend, was imprisoned by her wealthy pagan father in a tower to shield her from the world, not knowing that she had already secretly become a Christian.