La Perla (painting)

La Perla (literally The Pearl) is a 1518-1520 oil on canvas painting by Giulio Romano, based on a drawing by Raphael. It shows the Madonna and Child with John the Baptist, St Elisabeth and in the background St Joseph. It is now in the Museo del Prado. It is quite badly damaged and from Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle onwards it is held to have been painted by Romano after Raphael's death using sketches made by the latter artist - others argue it was painted around 1518. Part of another version has recently been found in the galleria Estense in Modena, known as the Perla di Modena.

La Perla (1518-1520) by Giulio Romano

It may be identifiable with the painting mentioned in Vasari's Lives of the Artists as owned by the counts of Canossa, then sold to cardinal Luigi d'Este, given to Caterina Nobili Sforza, countess of Santafiora and finally ceded by her to Vincenzo I Gonzaga in exchange for a marquisate worth 50,000 scudi. Another theory holds that it is the work identified as a Madonna which Gonzaga acquired directly from the counts of Canossa in exchange for the fiefdom of Cagliano in Monteferrato in 1604.

The painting definitely passed to Charles I of Great Britain in 1627 and after his execution it was bought at auction by Philip V of Spain, who gave it its current name, since he saw it as "the pearl" of his collection. It was taken to Paris in 1813 by Joseph Bonaparte and it remained there until 1815.[1]