A BERLIN PORCELAIN PLAQUE OF RAPHAEL'S SISTINE MADONNA, LATE 19TH CENTURY
the Madonna and Child standing on a cloud flanked by Saints Sixtus and Barbara all framed by green curtains, the famous angels peeking from below, impressed K.P.M. monogram and sceptre mark, incised numerals XII
31 x 25cm excluding giltwood and gesso frame

Raphael's Sistine Madonna, painted circa 1512-14 for an altarpiece in Piacenza, was bought for a record sum by Augustus III in 1754 and quickly became famous and influential throughout Germany. It has remained in Dresden ever since, except for a decade long sojourn in Moscow following WWII. Many stories surround it, including one that Raphael was inspired to paint the expression on the cherubim's faces after seeing two children in the street gazing longingly at a confectioner's display.