Not just copies but variations, suggestions, interpretations and critical reception: Joos van Cleve and the lost Madonna of the Cherries by Leonardo da Vinci

The theme focus concerns one of the most wide spread examples of replicas and copies of the same subject that were produced in the Southern Netherlands in the first half of the sixteenth century. The essay explore the transfer of figurative models from the Italian tradition to the flemish tradition, considering the case of the replicas and copies of the lost Madonna of the Cherries by Leonardo da Vinci, made by Joos van Cleve and his workshop in Antwerp. The essay investigates the form, manner, function and fortune of these works of arts. The main way of transmitting the model could be identified in the spread of the Master's cartoons, especially considering the infrared reflectography conducted on the paintings. The circulation and appreciation of the replicas and copies testifies the great esteem of the Leonardesque works by European patrons and collectors.