A Raphael in Bradford

This is exciting! I had the great pleasure the other day to see this painting in Bradford's Cartwright Hall art gallery. It is known as the de Brécy Tondo. Bought in 1981 by George Lester Winward, from a country house sale, it was then listed as 'After Raphael: The Madonna and Child. Tondo.' (Tondo simply means a circular painting.) Winward became convinced that it was actually painted by Raphael, as a prototype for his Sistine Madonna altarpiece (below). (See also HERE.) He researched it deeply and had the painting evaluated, setting up the de Brécy Trust to continue the research after he died.

In 2004 the Tondo was analysed by Professor Howell Edwards, Emeritus Professor of Molecular Spectroscopy at the University of Bradford, who concluded that pigments in its paint were consistent with an early pre-1700 Renaissance work. Then more recently, Professor Hassan Ugail, Director of the Centre for Visual Computing, also at Bradford University, has concluded that studies using deep and detailed AI assisted facial recognition systems on the Madonna's face and that of the baby, and AI assisted analysis of the whole painting suggest 'undoubtedly' that the painting is in fact by Raphael himself. 

It is the most beautiful painting. I love Raphael's Madonnas anyway. When I went to see his 'Madonna della Sadia' in 2004 at the National Gallery (see HERE) I stood in front of it with tears streaming down my cheeks. Seeing the Tondo in Bradford gave me goosebumps! Painted around 1513, it is over 500 years old, and that alone is mind-bending to me, never mind the beauty of it and the tenderness with which the mother and baby are depicted. I shall have to go see it again before it leaves Bradford. It's a privilege to be able to study it. 

it's quite a coup for Bradford to have the Tondo's first public showing in Cartwright Hall. The young lady at the gallery's reception desk was palpably excited and proud to have it there. It is being exhibited for two months from 25 July. (See HERE for a newspaper article about it.) I'm sure one day, somewhere, it will be shown alongside the Sistine Madonna, at present in a German gallery in Dresden. If that was to be in London, I'd almost certainly go to see it again.