Titles

Only one title is recorded :

• "Copy after Mignard's 'La Vierge à la grappe' " (1980, YMSM). 1

Description

Whistler's copy has not been located but it is likely to have followed closely in size and composition the original painting, La Vierge à la grappe (1640) by Pierre Mignard (1612-1695) (121 x 94 cm, 48 x 37"; Musée du Louvre, Inv. 663), which was painted in Rome about 1640/1650. It was a popular painting, showing Italian influence.

Mignard's painting shows the Virgin Mary in red dress and blue robe, seated, with the quite large baby Jesus sitting on a cushion on her lap. A scarf covers her head and that of the child, who holds the scarf up to right. There is a basket of fruit on a table at left, and she holds a bunch of grapes, on which the baby rests his other hand. There is a dark background, with a narrow glimpse through a curtain at right to a cloudy sky and landscape.