I am delighted to offer this fine 18thc Old Master Portrait After Raphael which has been previously restored and carefully refurbished. The oil painting is on canvas and depicts � The Madonna & Child � (Roman School) expertly painted within a painted feigned oval and is set within a later dark walnut veneered frame with decorative gilt onlay. ABOUTThe Madonna della seggiola or Madonna della sedia, also known as the �Madonna Of The Chair,� is a version where Madonna is looking out at the artist instead of towards the child in arms. This quality example is an excellent work of high Renaissance artistry. The original masterpiece was painted in Rome, by 31 year old Italian painter Raphael Santi. Today the painting is displayed in the Palazzo Pitti, in Florence, Italy It depicts Mary embracing the child Christ, while the young John the Baptist devoutly watches. Painted during his Roman period, this Madonna does not have the strict geometrical form and linear style of his earlier Florentine treatments of the same subject. Instead, the warmer colors seem to suggest the influence of Titian and Raphael''''s rival Sebastiano del Piombo. Maria Montessori, Italian doctor and pioneer in pedagogy, wrote that it was her wish that the Madonna della seggiola hang in each Children''''s House (Montessori school) as a symbol of ''''humanity [St. John] rendering homage to maternity [Madonna]''''. ABOUT THE ARTIST RAPHAELLO SANZIO (B1483-D1520)For centuries Raphael has been recognised as the supreme High Renaissance painter, more versatile than Michelangelo and more prolific than their older contemporary Leonardo. Though he died at 37, Raphael''''s example as a paragon of classicism dominated the academic tradition of European painting until the mid-19th century. Raphael (Raffaello Santi) was born in Urbino where his father, Giovanni Santi, was court painter. He almost certainly began his training the...