Renaissance painter Antonio Allegri da Correggio is also known as Correggio, which is the name of the Italian town where the artist was born in 1489. Pertinent to this Christmas Day 12-25-2025 blog is his painting The Madonna of the Basket.
 |
| The Madonna of the Basket by Antonio Allegri da Correggio circa 1524, oil on wood National Gallery of London, inventory number NG23 |
The painting's entry on the website of the National Gallery of London calls the basket a "work basket with its iron shears and ball of grey wool," seemingly equating Mary to an ordinary person with ordinary tasks. As is her husband Joseph, seen toiling as a carpenter in the background. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/correggio-the-madonna-of-the-basket
About the basket itself, I found little other descriptive information on my quick survey of websites.
Helpfully, Artera tells us "The 'basket' refers to the container on the lower left of the painting." https://www.artera.ae/artworks/abd8f87a-31b2-4086-90b3-2a58c8777257
The basket certainly is tucked into the corner! It's interesting that this minor player earned the title role.
The Web Gallery of Art is a bit more descriptive, letting us know that "Sitting outdoors under a tree, the Virgin, workbasket at her side, is trying a jacket she has just made on the Christ Child." https://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/correggi/madonna/basket.html
Nowhere did I find a description of the weave nor potential materials that may have been used in the basket. It looks like it's braided.
Without seeing the painting in person, and relying on online photos, I think it's more likely a wicker basket. More on this in my next blogpost...soon.
The painting is in the public domain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_of_the_Basket_(Correggio)
