masterpieces van gogh

5/20/2018 Masterpieces Van Gogh

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Masterpieces

th e J. Paul Getty Museum

PAINTINGS


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Masterpieces

o f

th eJ. Paul Getty Museum

PAINTINGS

Los Angeles

THE

J.

PAUL GETTY MUSEUM


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Frontispiece:

NICOLAS

POUSSIN

French, 1594-1665

The

Holy Family [detail] ,1651

O i l oncanvas

81.PA.43 (See no. 42)

A t

the J. Paul Getty Museum:

Christopher Hudson,

Publisher

MarkGreenberg,Managing

Editor

olli Holtman,

Editor

Suzanne

Watson

Petralli,Production

oordinator

Lou

Meluso and Jack Ross,

Photographers

Textprepared by Burton Fredericksen, David

Jaf f

Dawson Carr, DeniseA l l en Jennifer Helvey, and Perrin Stein

Designed and produced byThames and Hudson

and copublished w i t h the J. Paul Getty Museum

1997 The J. Paul Getty Museum

1200 Getty Center Drive

Suite 1000

Los Angeles,

California

90049-1687

Library

o fCongress Card Number 97-070931

ISBN 0-89236-428-9

Color

reproductions by CLG Fotolito, Verona,

Italy

Printed and bound in Singapore by C.S. Graphics


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CONTENTS

DIRECTOR S FOREWOR D 7

I T A L I A N

SCHOOL 8

DUTCH AND FLEMISH SCHOOLS 42

FRENCH SCHOOL 74

OTHER SCHOOLS 112

I N D E X

OF AR TI ST S 128


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DIRECTOR S FOREWORD

Turning the

pages

of this book gives us who work at the Getty Museum a particular

exhilaration. Our most d i f f i c u l t and expensive task since 1983 has

been

to build an

importa nt collection of European paintings in a time ofdwindling supply. This

survey of the Museum s finest pa int ings provides a

measure

of our progress, for the

reader

wise to the code ofaccession numbers w i l l d iscover how many of the works

have been

acquired in the past fourteen

years.

J. Paul Getty had a puzzling attitude toward paintings, buying them w i t h only

fitful enthusiasm. Not u n t i l after his death, when the Museum received the benefit

his generous legacy, could the paintings collection be greatly strengthened. As Cura

o f

Paintings between 1965 and 1984, Burton Fredericksen brought a new level of

professionalism to collecting, exhib iting, and publishing. His wor k has

spanned

several eras, beginning at Mr . Getty s modest house-museum in the 1960s; continu

through the construction in 1968-1974 of the present building, a re-created Roma

v i l l a ;

and into the current period of

diversification

by the Getty Trust and of growth

the Museum. He was followed as Curator of Paintings by

Myron

L askin, who serv

from 1984 to 1989, and George Goldner, who held the position from 1989 to 199

Each added major pictures and put his own stamp on the collection. David J a f f ha

been curator since 1994. His energy has reinvigorated the department and his keen

judgment has resulted in many important

purchases.

Roughly

half

the texts in this

book are the work of Burt on Fredericksen; other entries were contr ibuted by David

J a f f Dawson Carr, Denise

A l l e n

Jennifer Helvey, and Perrin Stein. I am very grat

to all the authors.

This book appears just as the paintings are being moved to a new museum, par

the Getty Center in the

Santa

Monica

hills

of Los Angeles. Hung inhandsome gall

and lighted by daylight, the collection is

sure

to give even greater pleasure to visitor

than it has in the past.

JOHN

WA

Dir

DIRECTOR S

FORE WORD


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1 S I M O NE M A R T I N I

Italian, circa 1284-1344

Saint Luke circa 1330

Tempera on panel

67.5x48.3 cm (26

9/16

x 19 in.)

82.PB.72

A

bastion o f conservatism, fo urteen th-century Siena was not immedia tely affected by

the progressive currents that the

Renaissance

brought to Florence and parts of northern

Italy.

T he

adherence

to a more orthodox, and therefore

less

experimental,

tradition

allowed

local

artists to maintain and perfect particularly

high

standards of craftsmanship.

During the

first half

o f the fourteen th century, however, a numbe r o fSienese artists di d

begin to soften the rigidityo f the

local

Byzantine-influenced style. Simone

Martini

was

perhaps

the most accomplished of this group. In his

hands

the figure

became

more

elegant and graceful, and the long-establi shed styl izati ons o f his

predecessors

began to

giveway to a greater awareness of the huma n form and its pote nti al for beauty. S imone

often wo rked for patrons i n cities such asAvignon i n France that were considerably

removed

from

his birthplace. The poems that Petrarch wrot e i n praise o f Simone spread

his reputati on and that o f the

Sienese

school beyond the borders o f

Italy.

The Museum s panel depicts Saint

Luke,

who is identified by the

inscription

S LVC[A]EVLSTA (Saint Luke the Evangelist). A win ged ox, thesaint s symbol, holds his

ink

po t as he writes his Gospel. Th is pai nt in g is in nearly perfect co ndit io n and retains

itsoriginal

frame. I t was probably the righ t-hand panel o f a five-part por table po lyp tych,

or

mu lti part altarpiece. The remaini ng

four

sections (three of

which

are in the

Metropolitan

Museum ofA r t NewYork; the fourth is in a private collectio n i n New

York)

depict the Madonna (the central panel) and three other saints. The panels were

probably hinged together w i t h leather

straps

so that the altarpiece could be

folded

and

carried.

Holes in the to p of the frame indicate that there may have been attachable

pinnacles,

perhaps w i t h

angels. The

f u l l y

expanded altar

would

have been almost seven

feet i nwidth. I t has recent ly been suggested that the altarpiece was originally painted

for the chapel i nSiena sPalazzo Pubblico.

Portions of

some

of the panels were pai nted by the artist s

assistants,

but the Getty

Museum s panel was executed ent irely by Simone . The refinement o f design, the

extreme

elegance

of the hand, the slightly elongated

figure,

and the intens ity o f the

expression are all hallmarks o f hiswork. BF

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I T A L I A N

SCHOOL


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2

B E R N A R D O D A D D I


The Virgin Mary

with Saints

Thomas

Aquinas and

Paul,

circa

1330

Tempera and

gold

on panel

Central panel: 120.7 x 55.9 cm

4 7

x22 in.)

Left

panel: 105.5 x 28 cm

(41

X

11 in.)

Right panel : 105.5 x 27.6 cm

(41 x 107/8n.)

93.PB.16

This beautifully

preserved

triptych

was painted in Florence at about the same moment

that Simone

Martini

was pai nt in g the Saint

Luke

(no . 1) in nearby Siena.

Daddi,

however, endows his figures

w i t h

greater

bulk

an d

physicality,

model ing them

w i t h

subtle gradations o f

light

an d shadethat

caused

contemporaries to marvel at their

profound presence.

Their natural, human

quality

epitomized Giotto's recent

revolutionary

example and heral ded the dawn o f the

Renaissance

in Florence.

These

artists established that the observat ion o f natu re

would

dominate European artistic

inquiry

for centuries to come, but certain details, such as the almond-shaped

eyes,

the

rich,

o rnamental pat terni ng of the Madonna's bodice, and the exquisite

gold

ground reveal that Byzantine abstraction was not yettotally abandoned.

Th e image of the half-lengt h M ado nn a flanked byfull-length standing saints

became

a popular

form

o fdevotional imagery. Th e choice of Saints Tho mas Aqui nas

and Paul most probably reflects

some

significance to the original owner,

perhaps

indicating

his name. In a trefoil (three-part leaf) above,

Jesus

Christ gives his blessing.

Th e size o f the

triptych

indicates that it was probab ly inte nded for a small chapel, as

i t is too large for portable use and too small for a church altar.

Th e

g i l t

grou nd was meant to convey the impression o fsolid gold to pay homage

to the depicted

holy

figures. This ground also has a spatial

function,

creating a

kind

o f

gold

empyrean that removes the figures

from

the earth ly and transport s th em to the

heavenly realm.

Nevertheless, Daddi's

V i r g i n

is

virtually

thrust

into

our

space

as her ha nd overlaps

the marble parapet, mak in g her hu man it y all the more accessible. As she reads the

Magnificat (Luke

1:4648), she gestures to somethi ng outside the paint ing , an altar or

a to mb posi ti on ed below. I n this way, Da ddi celebrates Ma ry's role as the most pot ent

intercessor, the

serene,

compassionate

l i n k

between our

world

and the realm of Go d.

DC

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3

G E N T I L E

D A

FABRIANO

Italian,

circa 1370-1427

The Coronation

of the Virgin,

circa

1420

Tempera on panel

87.5x64 cm (34

x

2 5 in.)

77.PB.92

A

rare

surviving

example of a processional standard, The

Coronation of

the

Virgin

w

meant to be carried on a pole in religiousparades.It is painted inbrilliant colors ov

a layer ofgold

leaf

and once had an image of G od the Father in a ty mpa nu m, asepa

section t hat was attached above; this has since been lost . T he sta ndard was also

origin

double sided and was sawed

into

two sections sometime

prior

to 1827. The reverse,

The

Stigmatization

of Saint Francis,

is now in the Magnani -Rocca

collection

in Reg

Emilia in northern Italy.

T he choice of subjects an d the evidence of

existing

documents indicate that the

standard was pain ted for the Franciscan monks i n Fabriano and kept at the Chu rch

San Francesco. Th e pai nt in g was moved about t odifferent locat ions over the course

o f

the next

four

centuries as churches were

torn

down and replaced, but becauseo f

connection w i t h Gen til e, the town's most famous son, i t was revered in Fabriano

lo

after such paintings

ceased

to be made. By the 1830s, however, such relics of the lat

Middle

Ages and

Renaissance

had become

highly

coveted, and an E ngl ish collector

was able to

purchase

The

Coronation.

Gentile

is thought to have painted the standard on a

visit

to his hometown in th

spring

o f 1420, rather late in his

illustrious

career.

By this t ime he had acquired fam

and prestige throughout Italy as the

greatest

artist of his generation.

Although relati

few

o f his painti ngs survive, his works had an enormous influence (in part becauseo

their

strong

sense

o f

space

a nd

form)

on his contemporaries.

I n

the Museum's panel, the artist has composed his

scene

using a number of

rich

fabrics w i t h

large and

colorful

patterns, a device that d i d no t permi t hi m to develop

spatial aspectsof the pai nt in g to his usual degree. Chri st bot h blessesand crowns th

V i r g i n ,

an unusual detail for this

time,

while to each side the angels sing

songs

inscr

on

scrolls. Th e

total

effect is one of luxuriousness and opulence

befitting

a panel tha

was once one of the

town

of Fabriano's most venerated religious

treasures.

I T A L I A N

SCHO O L


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4

MASACCIO

(Tommaso di Giovanni

Guidi)

Italian, 1401-1428 (?)

Saint

Andrew, 1426

Tempera on panel

52.4x32.7 cm (20 x 12 in .)

79.PB.61

Masaccio's

brief

but unparalleled

career

was marked by a few major works,

including

an altarpiece pain ted for the Ch ur ch o f the Ca rmin e in Pisa, a cycle o f frescoes for t

Brancacci chapel in the Chu rch o f the Carmi ne i n Florence, and a fresco depi cti ng t

Trinity in the Church of

Santa

Maria

Novella

i n Florence.

A l l

were painted

within

a

span o f about

four

years, but the

only

one of

these

that is clearly documented

from

time is the altarpiece for Pisa, an epochalwork that

became

famous immediatel y. It

to this altarpiece that the Museum's panel once belonged.

Masaccio, a

citizen

o f Florence, began work on the Pisa altarpiece in Februa ry 1

and he mus t have spent muc h o f his time in Pisa u n t i l its compl eti on the day after

Christmas. The chapel inwhich i t was to be placed had been const ruct ed the year

before at the request o f Ser

Giuliano

di

Colino degli

Scarsi, a

well-to-do

notary in P

Th e notary's records of paymen t show that Ma saccio used two

assistants,

his younge

brother Giovan ni and Andrea di Giusto, bot h of

whom

laterbecame respected art is

i n their own right.

The central part o f the altarpiece, no w in the Nat io nal Gallery, Lo nd on , depicts

Madonna

an d

Child w i t h

angels sin ging and

playing

instruments. At the

sides

were

panels o f Saints Peter,John the Baptist, Julian , and Nicho las (n ow presumed

lost).

I

the predella, the

platform

or

base

under the altarpiece, were stories

from

the lives o f

these saints and The Adoration of the Magi (all ofwhich are no w i n the Staatliche

Museen

Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin).

Above the Ma don na was The

Crucifixio

(most

probably the painting now in the Museo e Gallerie

Nazionali

di Capodimont

Naples), and on either side in the upper register were many other saints. The Getty

panel o f Saint Andre w is presumed to have been one o f

these.

The ent ire al tarpiece

was about fifteen feet

t a l l ,

a large and i mposi ng cons truct ion .

Th e value o f Masaccio's

work

lies in its inno vative rendering o f the

figure

and

its

very

original

understanding of

form

and volume, both of

which

are

seen

in the

monumentality and solidityo f the

figure

o f SaintAndrew.The artist is given credit

for havin g begun an ent irely newphasein the history of

painting

and for being

the

first

since classical times to project a

rationally

ordered

illusion

o f

space

onto a

two-dimensional

surface. As mu ch as any ot her pai nt in g, this altarpiece marks the

beginning

o f the

Renaissance

i n fifteenth-century Tuscany.

I T A L I A N

SCH OO L


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5 ER COL E DE' RO BE RTI

Italian, circa 1450/ 561496

Saint Jerome in the Wilderness,

circa 1470

Tempera on panel

34 x2 2 cm (13 x

8

in.)

96.PB.14

During his four-year spiritual sojourn in the Egyptian

desert,

SaintJerome (342420)

purified

his spiri t thr oug h physical suffering. Sheltered b y vaulted ruins reminiscent

o f a church, the emaciated saint contemplates acrucifix as he claspsa rock w i t h which

to beat his breast.The inten sity of SaintJerome's gaze upon the crucifix suggestshis

religious and intellectual fervor. In the nook at the apex of the structure areJerome's

most promin ent attributes: a book, allu ding to his translation o f the Bible int o

Latin,

and a cardinal's hat, referring to his service to

Pope

Damascus I (r. 366 -3 84) in Rome.

The small l i o n , aspecies apparently known to the artist onlyfrom a book illustration,

refers to a popul ar fable i n whic h

Jerome

pulls a thorn from the paw of a l i o n ,winnin g

its devoted friendship.

Ercole de' Roberti work ed principa ll y in Ferrara, one o f the most

brilliant

city-states o f the

Renaissance

in northern

Italy,

where he was instrumental in forging

the elegant classicizing style for which the city is famous. Ercole

made

his distinctive

contribution w i t h exquisitelyprecise works of haunt ing , emotion al intros pection such

as the Saint

Jerome.

The elongated forms, taut, linear rhythms, subtle colors, and meticulous, gold-

flecked details exemplify the stylist ic sophi sti cati on pri zed by Ercole's patrons at the

cour t o f Ferrara. The quiet, elegant classicism o f his work , derived in part from his

study o f Ma ntegna, is epit omized in the figure's beau tif ull y expressive, sinuous limbs

and hands.The artist's fascination w i t h layering to build forms manifests itself in the

vertical

wood pilingsbeneath the saint and the delicately stratified rocks. This small,

jewel-like

devotional work

demands

a focused concentration

from

the viewer that

echoes Jerome's efforts to come closer to God. JH



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6

V I T T O R E CARPACCIO

Italian, 1460/65-1525/26

Hunting

on the Lagoon,

circa 1490-95

O i l on panel

75.4 x 63.8 cm(29x25 in.)

79.PB.72

Carpaccio was one of the

first Renaissance

painters to employ

scenes

of everyday

l i fe

i n

hiswork.This striking

view

o f his native Venice shows cormoran t hunters on a lag oon.

Note that the hunting party does not use arrows but rather shootspellets of dried clay,

apparently to stun the birds without damagi ng thei r flesh or plumage. I n an early

instance of arrested action in a picture, one such pellet, just

fired from

the boat at right,

can be

seen

in midair, about to clout the cormorant in the foreground.

Thispanel is the top part of a composition that was originally much longer, as the

truncated l i l y in the lower

left

corner suggests. It served as the background for a

scene

o f

two women sittingon a balcony overlookin g the lagoon, now in the Museo Correr

i nVenice. Tha t pa int ing has a

vasew i t h

a stem sitting on a balustrade t hat matches up

w i t h

the blossom in the Getty painti ng. Recent ex aminat ion of both panels confirmed

that they were once one; the woo d grain is ident ical , and muc h like a

fingerprint,

wood

grain

is unique. Sadly, they were probably sawed apart for commercialreasons sometime

before the bo t tom part entered the

Museo Correr in the nineteenth century.

The back of the Correr's panel was

removed, presumably at the time it was

separated from

the top, but the reverse

o f

the Museum's painting

preserves

an

extraordinary

image. The

illusionistic

letter rack, w i t h letters seemingly

projecting

into

the viewer'sspace,

is the earliest kn own trompe -l' oeil

(fool the eye) painting in

Italian

art.

The back also has grooves cut for

hinges and a latch, indi cat in g that the

two-sided panel probably functioned as

a decorative

window

shutter or a door

to

a cabinet. This

suggests

tha t there

may have been a mat chin g shutter or

door un kno wn today. I f the paint in g

served as a shutter, when closed the

panel would have made the spectator

think the

window

was open to this vista

o f

the lagoon, extending the remarkable

illusionism even further. DC



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7 A N D R E A M A N T E G N A


The

Adoration of the Magi,

circa 1495-1505

Distemper on linen

54.6 x 69.2 cm 2 1 x27 in.)

85.PA.417

The Renaissancewas characterized by an intense reawakening o f interest i n classical

art and

civilization.

Dur ing the fifteenth century,

some

of the most overt emulation

o f

"classical" style occurred i n nor the rn

Italy,

especially in

Padua

and Mantua. This

was

primarily

due to the infl uence o f Andrea Ma nteg na, who work ed in bo th cities

an d

spent

muc h o f hiscareer in the court of the Gonzaga of Ma nt ua.

Although

M ant egna pro babl y had no examples o f classical pai nt in g for study,

he didhave

access

t o

some

sculpture and to recently excavated fragments o f Roma n

figures and reliefs. In his religious pictures , as w e l l as his works w i t h classical or

mythological themes, the emphasis on sculptural models isapparent.His style is

characterized bysharp definition of figures and objects, combined w i t h a clear

articulation

o fspace.Someo f his pictures are executed i n grisaill e, or

tones

o f gray,

as i f he were imitating reliefs, and t hey give the impression o f havi ngbeen carefully

carved in great deta il.

The Museum's pain tin g was most probablymadein Mantua, very possibly for

Francesco I I Gonzaga. It has a completely neutral ba ckground w i t h no attempt to

indicat e a settin g. Kneel ing before the

Holy

Family are the three kings: the bald

Caspar,

Melchior,

and Balthasar the Moor . The

hats

worn b y Melc hi or and Balthasar are

reasonably

accurate

representationsof oriental or Levantineheadgear. Caspar presents

a blue-and-white bowlo f very fineChineseporcelain (one of the earliest depiction s of

orientalporcelain i n Western a rt). Melc hio r holds acenser,which has been identified

as Turkish tombac ware, and Balthasar offers a beautiful agate

vase.

Objects o f this sort

were not commonly found in

Italy,

although

some

of the costume

accessories

might

have been

seenin Venice,which maintained an active trade w i t h the East.The y may

have been giftsfrom foreignheadso fstate that fo rmed part o f the Gonzaga collection s.

The Museum's Adoration is one of the few fifteenth-century Italian paintings

executed on linen instead o f

wood.

Such pictures were not originally varnished because

they were painted in distemper rather than o i l . Varnish applied at a later time has

darkened the

linen,

bu t the beauty o f the figures and the richnesso f the detailhave

hardlybeen affected. BF



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8 FRA B A R T O L O M M E O

(Baccio

della Porta)

Italian, 1472-1517

The

Rest on the

Flight

into

Egypt

with Saint John the Baptist, circa 1509

O i l

on panel

129.5 x 106.6 cm (51 x 42 in.)

96.PB.15

Fra Bartolommeo painted thiswork i n 1509, immediatel y after his return t o Floren

from Venice. The calm grandeur a nd inventive subject o f The Rest on the Flight

illustrate the artist's fresh response to the monumental Florentine High Renaissance

style, in iti ated by Leonardo, Michelang elo, and Raphael.

I n

this beautif ully orchestrated dialogue ofgesture and glance, the

Holy

Family

havingescaped

Bethlehem and King Herod's massacreo f the innocents, take theirea

beneath a

date

palm tree. Mary and

Joseph

look on as the inf ant John the Baptist

gr

the Christ Child, whograsps John's reed crossdespite his mother's restraining hand.

The Baptist's presence is a poignant reminder that the ultimatepurpose o f the Child

escape

is his sacrifice on the cross. Fra Bartolommeo reinforces the pathosby includ

the pomegrana te, a f r u i t that prefigures Christ's death, and the sheltering palm, who

fronds

w i l l

pave the Savior's final entry intoJerusalem. The ruined arch alludes to th

downfall of the paganorder and t he rise of Christ's church , personified by Mary.

Fra Bartolommeo

captures

the Florentin e ideal o f beauty i n the Madonna's

gracefully turningpose and i n the even curves o f her softly modeled face and neck.

painter's fascination w i t h nature issuggestedby his masterful ha ndl in g of the diffus

golden

light

emanating

from

the mist-shrouded

city

o f Bethlehem, the crisply detai

palm

tree, and in the freely painted feathersof the rustling

bird

on the arch.

I T A L I A N

SCHO OL


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9 G I U L I O

R O M A N O

(Giulio Pippi)

Italian, before 1499-1546

The

Holy

Family,

circa

1520-23

O i l

(possiblymixed

w i t h

tempera)

on

panel

77.8x 61.9 cm (30 x 24 in. )

95.PB.64

Giulio

Roman o was Raphael's most impo rt an t protege. Up o n Raphael's death in 1520,

Giulio assumed

leadership o f his

master's

Roman shop, a posi tio n he main tai ned u n t i l

1524 when he

left

his native

city

to become cou rt painter to the Duk e o f M an tu a.

Because the artists collaborated so closely, the

distinction

between Raphael's and

Giulio's

hands

remains hotly debated. However, thisHoly

Family

is replete w i t h mannerisms

that can be securely connected w i t h

Giulio's

later independent works, particul arly the

metallic

palette, heavy physiognomies, and a preoccupation

w i t h

surface ornamentation.

I n

this panel

Giulio

elaborates upon the

familiar

subject o f the

Holy Family.

The

arrival

of the woman

w i t h

the doves of

purification

identifies this

scene

as the moment

when

the

infant

Christ and Saint John the Baptist

first

meet.

BothJoseph

an d

Mary

lookprotectively down on the two precocious

readers,

forming a cleverly orchestrated

interlocking

group.

Giulio

typically includes l ive l ydetails, such as the dog dashing out

o f

a doorway at the

left

and the

beautifully

realized

all'antica

landscape at the right.

The panel probably

datesfrom

the per io d between Raphael's last

work,

The

Transfiguration

(1520), and

Giulio's

Martyrdom

of Saint

Stephen (1523) . I t shows

Giulio workingas Raphael's heir, con ti nu in g the same

stylistic

idiom and yet allowing

his own design preferences to become more apparent. DJ



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10 CORREGGIO

(Antonio

Allegri)

Italian,circa 1489/ 94-1534

Head of Christ, circa 152530

O i l

on panel

28.6 x 23 cm (1 1

x9

1

16

n.)

94.PB.74

Antonio

A l l e g r i , known as Correggio after the townof his

birth,

was the leading Hi

Renaissance

artist in the region of

Emilia

in north-central

Italy.

T he Head of Christ

illustrates Correggio's i nv enti on of a new type of devot ional imagery where the figur

seem to be caught i n vibrant , realistic moments .

The subject derives

from

the legend of Saint Veronica. Whe n Chris t fe l l on the

way

to the

Crucifixion

he was comfor ted by Veronica , who wip ed his face w i t h her

v e i l ,

miracu lous ly impressing his image upon it . Instead o f the tradi ti ona l iconic

composition, which derived from the relic of the Savior's face i mpr int ed on the ve i l ,

Correggio portrays a hauntingly naturalistic Christ, who turns toward the viewer and

partshis lips as i f to speak.Veronica's v e i lis the folded, whitecloth background that

wraps around Christ's shoulder and ends in soft white fringes at the lowerright. The

painting's profound devotional impact

depends

upon Correggio's bold invention:

Christ is shown wrapped

within

the v e i l at the inst ant before the miracl e. The art ist

has made i tappear that the l i v i n g face of Chri st tu rns t o confron t the viewer.

Correggio's reassessment of a tradit ional image intended for contempla tion and

private prayer may be related to the renewed senseof piety that followed the return

Veronica's v e i l , along w i t h the other prin cipa l relics of Chri st endom, to the Basilica

Saint Peter'safter their theft during the sackof Rome i n 1527. Numerous copies of

Head of Christ attest to the

success

of the novel composition and to the high regard

which

t his artist, lon g considered second instatureonly to Raphael, was held.

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11 DOSSO DOSSI

(Giovanni

de' Luteri)


Mythological Scene, circa 1524

Oil oncanvas

163.8 x 145.4 cm

(64x

5 7

n.)

83.PA.15

During the early sixteenth century, the ducal court at Ferrara assembled and employ

some

of the most original and brilliant painters, wri ters , and musicians o f the time.

Most

of thisactivitywas initiated by Duke Alfonso I

d'Este

(1505-1534), who bro

together painters such as Raphael

from

Rome and Giovanni B e l l i n i and

Tit ian from

Venice. The collection of pictures that the duke

assembled,

however, focused primar

on the work of two local artists, the brothers Dosso and Battista Dossi.

The

brilliant

color and poetic mystery of the Venetian stylepervade the brot hers

works,

but they also demonstratea fascination w i t h classical motifs, elaborate

compositions, and figural posesthat seem to derive from Rome. The Museum's

canv

one o f the largest su rvi ving works by Dosso, exemplifies all ofthese influences.

Many of

Dosso's

bestpictures

s t i l l

defy preciseexplanation because of their com

themes and eccentric orobscureallegorical programs. This painting is generally

assumed

to be mythologicalbecause the Greek god Pan appears on the right. It has

been suggested that the wonderful nude lying in the foreground coul d be the n ymp

Echo, whom Pan loved; the old woman may be Terra,

Echo's

protector.

Dosso did not intend the woman in the flowing red cape on the left to be seen.

After completing this figure, he painted over her w i t h alandscape; this was scraped

at a later date.A t

some

point the painting was also cut down by about six inches on

left

side, so that the figures originally dominated the composition to a

lesser

extent

they do now. In spite of the changes that prevent us from

seeing

the painting exactly

as the art ist i ntended, i t can be described as one of the most sensual and ambitious

o f

Dosso's

works. Th e beaut ifu lly detailed flowers i n the foregroun d, the almost

flamboyant lemon tree, and the fantastic landscape on the

left

display an exuberant

individuality unmatched by any of the artist's ill ust rious contemporaries. B

I T A L I A N

SCHOO L


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12 D OSS O DO SSI

(Giovanni

de' Luteri)


Allegory

ofFortune, circa 1530

O i l

oncanvas

178 x 216.5 cm (70x8 5

in.)

89.PA.32

This

recentl y discovered pa in ti ng was executed by Dosso at leasta

decade

after the

Mythological

Scene il lust rated on the preceding

page.While

the luminous, poetic

coloring

and atmosphere o f the earlierwork reflectDosso's study of contemporary

Venetian paintings, the Allegory of Fortune illustrates ho w hiswork developed toward

a more Roman style dominated by the

figure.

I n fact, the heroically propo rti on ed and

posed figures o f theAllegory are closely

based

on examples in Michelangelo's Sistine

Chapel

ceiling.

The woman

represents

Fortune, or LadyLuck, the

indifferent

force tha t determines

fate. She is nude and holds a cornucopia,

flaunting

the bou nt y that she coul d bring.

Her

solitary

shoe

indicates that she not

only

brings fortune but also misfortune.

While

these

characteristics co nf orm to tra diti ona l depictions o f Fortune, Dosso

handles

her

other a ttrib utes creatively. Fortu ne was often sho wn w i t h a sail to indicate that she is

as inconstant as the

wind,

but Dosso employs an art ful flourish o f

billowing

drapery.

Likewise,

Fortune was often depicted balancing on a terrestrial or celestial

sphere

to

represent the extent o f her influ ence, but

w i t h

characteristic wi t, Dosso has her

sitting

precariously on a bubbl e, a symbol o f transience, to

stress

that her favors are

often

fleeting.

The ma n can be underst ood as a personi fica tion of Chance, i n thesenseo fluck

(sorte) rather than opportunity {occasio . He looks

longingly

toward Fortune as he is

about to deposit paper lots or lottery tickets in a golden urn. The tickets are nor a

traditional

attribute but rather a

timely

reference to the

civic

lotteries that had recently

become popular in

Italy.

Th e paper lo tt ery tickets had yet another association f or the society inwhich Dosso

worked.

Theywould have been recognized as an embl em of Isabellad'Este, marchioness

o f

M an tu a. On e o f her learned advisors stated tha t she

chose

this image to denote

her personal experience of fluctuating fo rtune. It is possible that Dosso created this

painting

for Isabella and that its meaning is

tied

to the vicissitudes of her

l i fe

at the

cour t o f M an tu a. Wheth er or no t this is ever established w i t h certainty, the haunting

moodo f the pai nt in g invites the present-day viewer to reflect on ho w l i fe

s t i l l seems

at

the

whim

o f LadyLuck. D C

28

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SCHOOL


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13

SEBASTIANO

DEL

PIOMBO

(SebastianoLuciani)

Italian,

circa 1485-1547

Pope

Clement VII,

circa 1531

O i l on

slate

105.5 x 87.5 cm

4 1 x

3 4

n.)

92.PC.25

This portrait depicts Giulio de' Medici (1478-1534), who reigned as Pope Clement

V I I

from

1523. Clement is

principally

remembered as one o f the

greatest

patrons

o f

the

Renaissance.

His art commissions include

Raphael's

Transfiguration (Rome,

Pinacoteca Vaticana), Michelangelo's

Medici

Chapel and Laurentian

Library

(Florence,

San Lorenzo), as w e l l as the Last Judgment for the Sistine Chapel (Rome, Vatica n).

Clement was alsoSebastiano's greatestbenefactor, from the commission for The

Raising of

Lazarus

(L on don , Nat io nal Gallery) in 1517 to the bestowal of the

high

office

o f Keeper o f the Papal

Seals

in 1531.

Sebastiano'sport rait style has a distinctive, monu menta l grandeur particular ly suited

tostateportraits

like

this one. The pope is depicted in three-quarter leng th,seated i n

an armchair that is canted diagonally to the picture plane. The

first

independent papal

portrait

to adopt this format was

Raphael's

Portrait

of

Julius

I I(Lo ndon, National

Gallery) of 1511-12. Sebastiano'sseveral portraits of Clement V I I are the next images

to use the composi tio nal arrangement, establishing i t as the standard forstateportraits

o f

the pontiff. Thereafter, the formu la has

been

followed almost invariably by the

popes

painters and photographers to the

present

day.

This portrait, painted on slate, is probably the one

Sebastiano

mentioned in a letter

to Michelangelo dated July 22, 1531.

Aspiring

to eternalize his works,

Sebastiano

began to experiment

w i t h

painting on

stone

about 1530. Slate had no t often

been

used

as a support for painting, but Sebastiano came to favor it for especially important

commissions. The pope

seems

to

have shared

his concern w i t h l ongevit y as he specified

the

stone

support for his portrai t. They bo th knew that woo d and

canvaswould

rot,

and that

slate

is extremely durabl e, as lo ng as it is no t dropped. D C

30

I T A L I A N

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14 P O N T O R M O

(Jacopo Carucci)

Italian,

1494-1557

Portrait of

a

Halberdier

(Francesco

Guardi? ,

1528-30

O i l

on panel transferred to

canvas

92x72 cm

(36

x28 in.)

89.PA.49

Jacopo Pontormo, court painter to Duke Cosimo de' Medici an d one of the founde

the so-called Mann eris t style in Florence, excelled as a portra iti st. T he Halberdier is

greatest

achievement.

Much has beenwritten about the

identification

o f the sitter. In 1568, the chron

o f

artists'

lives, Giorgio

Vasari, noted that duri ng the 1 528- 30

siege

of Florence

Pont ormo pain ted a most beauti fulwork, a portrait ofFrancesco Guardi as a sold

We

know nothing of

Francesco's appearance,

yet his birthdate of 1514

would

make

about the age of Pontormo's teenagesitter. The

name

of the r iva l claimant, Cosimo

Medici, isbasedsolely on a 1612 Florentine inventory.

Pontormo shows his halberdier before a bastion as i fdefending the city. The

physical confidence conveyed by his swaggering

pose,

slung sword, and loose

grip

on

the halberd (spear)

suggest

a control that is belied by his anxious expression. Th

ambivalent message is reinforced by his garb. His casually

worn,

fashionable red cap

is decorated by a hat badgeshowing the heroic deed of Hercules overcoming Antae

O ur un bloo died fighter stares

into

the unkn own , his expression suggesting he has

just become aware of the mythof the immortality of

youth.

According

to Vasari, this most beautiful portrai t ofFrancescoGuardi had a

cover w i t h the legend ofPygmalion and Galatea (Florence, Palazzo Vecchio) pain te

by

Pontormo's talented

pupil

Bronzi no. Th e extraordinary qualit y of the Get ty por

certainly

merits Vasari's epithet. Pontormo's

brilliant

handling of paint and edgy

repetitionof formscreate a vi bra nt personali ty, an achievement as impressive as

Pygmalion giving l i fe to stone.

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15

T I T I A N

(TizianoVecellio)

Italian,

circa 1480-1576

Venus and

Adonis,

circa

1560s

O i l

oncanvas

160 x 196.5 cm (63 x

in.)

92.PA.42

The Venetian painter Titian's dominan ce of the intern ati ona l art

world

o f his timearose

from

his

ability

as a

state

portrait maker and as an

illustrator

o f classical mytho log y.

Venus

and Adonis was one o f his most famous

mythological

composit ions . Th e story

from Ovid'sMetamorphoses tells ho w thegoddesso flove failed topersuade the hunter

to stay w i t h her and he instead rushed of f to his death. The sl umber in g

Cupid

w i t h

ineffective

love arrows

s t i l l

in the quiver and the

mateless

partridge beside the upturned

wine

jug all indicate that Venus's last impassioned glance

w i l l

fa i l to restrain the

too-bold

hunter. Designed

originally

for one o f his closest and most supporti ve patron s,

Philip

I I King

o f Spain, the present pa in ti ng is one o f man y more mature free variants

painted for

some as-yetunidentified

admirer.

Titian

wrote to Philip that his Adonis

was to show a back

view o f

Venus as f o i l to his earlierfrontal nude compos iti on . Faced

w i t h

the sensuously compressed b utt ocks, it is

easy

t o

simply

read such paintings as

exploiting

female

nudity,

as indeed d i d several o f his cont emporaries. I n fact Titi an' s

challenge was to render the ancien t my th ol og y in a believable and en ti cin g way.

As

had Raphael and Correggio before hi m,Titiandrew inspirationfrom an ancient

bas-relief. Such a quot at ion o f a Roma n

invention

is at the heart o f ou r concept o f the

Renaissance

as the

rebirth

o f ancient art, and for

Titian

it was a way o f auth enti catin g

his composi ti on . Bu t he has translat ed the image in a

series

o f

centrifugal

forces,

showingAdoni s unravelinghimself

from

Venus's embrace

while

one o f his hun ti ng

dogs turns back w i t h glisteningeyes to contemplate the pleasuresrelinquished for

those

o f

the chase.Th e

canvas

is replete w i t h examples

o fTitian'shouse

style o f

painting,

visible

in the drapery

f o l d

high lig hts that enliven thecloth i n sharp zigzags, almost as

i f charged

w i t h

static

electricity;

the almos t impercept ibl e mod eli ng o f flesh; the flashy

curls

o f hair; and the staging of

Adonis'scape,which

shimmers against the evocative

moun tai ns. Venetian artists were famous for their preoccupation w i t h the painterly

renderi ng o f the effects o f

light

on surfaces, design ing in color and no t just line, and

Titian

was a genius at usingthese effects to

create

evocative moods. Titian's task was to

make a fantasy

world

both believable and desirable, and he has

succeeded

in

bringing

its

su perhuman protagonists alive and con vinc ing us o f their tragic love story.

Th e centra l figures were evidentl y traced and reused to

generate

further variants

o f

this compo sit ion in the Palazzo Barberi ni and the Na ti on al Gallery, Lo nd on . DJ



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16 VERONESE

(Paolo

Caliari)

Italian,

1528-1588

Portrait of

a

Man,

1576-78

O i l

oncanvas

192.2x 134 cm (75 x 5 2 in.)

71.PA.17

The subject o f this imposi ng portra it

leans

on a large socle, or

base,

supporting flut

columns; between

these

columns is a niche containing a marble sculpture of a drape

figure,

o fwhich

only

the lower

portion

can be

seen.

Carved reliefs adorn the

sides

o

the socle, whose exact subjects are not discernibl e. T he ma n

stands

on a pavement o

inlaid

stone, and in the distance to the

left,

the dist inc tiv e features of the Venet ian

Basilica

of San Marco can beseen.The chu rch is incongru ously surrounded by trees

i f i t were in a forest ins tead of its actual urba n sett ing.A l l ofthesedetails

seem

inten

to

prov ide clues to the subject's profession or

identity. Perhaps

he had

some

connect

w i t h

San Marco, although this

would

no t explai n the basilica being represented i n t

unusual setting. He may have been an architect or even a sculptor, but nothing abou

his

clothing

or his appearanceconfi rms this. Th e sword at his side, i n fact, suggests

he may have been a nobleman.

Traditionally,

the subject has been described as the artis t himself , bu t this cann ot

confirmed.

There are

some

indications that Veronese may have been bearded, and h

seems

to have had a

high

forehead, but his exact

appearance

is un kn own . Moreover

seemsunlikely

that he

would

have painted

himself

standing in

formal

clothing

agai

some

columns w i t ha sword at his waist, and he had no special connection w i t h the

Basilica

of San Marco.

Perhaps

because he had so many commission s to pa in t large decorative cycles i n

Venice,

Veronese generally avoided

less

lucrati ve categories, such as portrai ts, for

wh

his

contemporaries Ti nt oret to and

Tit ian became

better

known.

I n spite of the fact

he did not depend upo n his reputa tion as a portra iti st , he was a very

s k i l l f u l

one, an

the size an d beauty of the present ex ampl eone o f the most strikingo f the few he

undert ookindicat e that it must have been a particu larly impor ta nt commiss ion fo

him.

I t is executed

w i t h

a pain terl y verve and freedom of execution t hat characterize

a ll

of the artist's

work.

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17

D O M E N I C H I N O

(Domenico Zampieri)

Italian, 1581-1641

The Way to Calvary,

circa 1610

O i l on copper

53.7 x68.3 cm (21 x 26 in.)

83.PC.373

Domenichino,

a pro min ent member o f the artistic movement founded by the Carracci

family, journeyed to Rome i n 1602. He worke d closelyw i t hAn nib ale Carracci an d

over the next

four

decades remained one o f his most loyal adherents.

Domenichino's careerwas marked by aseries of imp or ta nt fresco projects, bu t he

also pain ted a nu mber o f religious pictures for individual patrons. Dur ing his

first

decade in Rome, he pa int ed a few o fthese on copper, a support that was popular for

small

composition s requiri ng a

high degree

o f

finish.

The Museum's copper is one

o f

the masterpieceso f this early perio d. It was probabl y executed abou t 1610 and is

particularly indicative o f the care the artist devoted to his work.

Do menic hin o emphasized the careful plann ing of compositi on and individual

figures, and his execution was exceptional ly painstak ing .Along w i t h the Carracci, he

stood in opposition to the "realist" movement led by Caravaggio and his

followers,

maintaining

instead that nature must be ordered and improved upon. This

stance

was a rational one, and

typically,

The Way to Calvary

does

not emphasize the Savior's

suffering,

in spite o f the

brutality

o f the subject. Do meni chi no imparted asense

o f

strength to his figures but eschewed dramat ic exaggeration o f any

kind.

The

compressi on o f the figures at the

sides

of this compo sit io n may be deliberate, or

i tma y be in part the result of the copper panel havi ngbeen tri mmed at

some

time

after it was pai nt ed. BF

36

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18 PIER FRA NCE SCO M O L A

Italian, 1612-1666

The

Vision of

Saint

Bruno,

circa 1660

O i l on

canvas

194 x 137 cm (76 x 53 in .)

89.PA.4

Saint Bruno was the founder o f the Carthusi an order, a monastic co mmun it y

established o n the principle that un io n w i t h God was furthered by continual, solita

meditation.Thus, Carthusians live most o f thei r lives isolated from their brothers,

coming together as a commun it y onl yoncea week. Mola's work illustrates the basic

principleof Carthusian l i fe by showing their founder alone, turningfrom his devot

to witness a visio n ofheaven breaking through the clouds. He reachesout longingly

not frightened, but lost in asweet,mysticalecstasy.

Like many R oman artists of his ti me,Mola found inspiration in the landscapes

created by Venetian painters i n the preceding century. One aspect of thi s is revealed

i n the rich panoramaof browns and ochers, set o ff by an ultra marine sky and cloud

shot through w i t h warm sunlight. Also reflecting Venetian usage, the

landscape

form

beautifully mi mic the figure in a complex coun terpo in t t hat echoeshis rapture.

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19 B E R N A R D O B E L L O T T O

Italian,

1721-1780

View

of

the Grand Canal:

Santa Maria della Salute and

the Dogana from Campo Santa

Maria Zobenigo, circa 1740

O i l

on

canvas

135.5 x

232.5

cm ( 5 3 x 9 1 in.)

91.PA.73

Bell otto's precocious talent was fostered in the studi o of his uncle, Cana let to. By the

mid-1730s the teenagerwas collaborating

w i t h

Canaletto on the idealized views of

Venice that ha d won the older artist fame. O ne of Bellotto's earliest

masterpieces,

the View of the Grand Canal

demonstrates

the sweeping monumenta lit y, lumi nous

contrasts, and the alternatively brushy and l i q u i d ha ndli ng of paint characteristic o f

Bellotto's maturework. Richlyobserved in

anecdote

as w e l l as physical detail, this

urban view is enlivened by its human element, capturing simultaneously the aging

grandeurof the city and the moment ary qual it y of everyday l i fe

wirhin

it.

Bellotto's view of the Gra nd Canal presentsacross-section of Venet ian society

going about their business on a sunny morning. In the left foreground, the

facade

o f

the Palazzo Pisani-Grittipresentsan elegant backdrop to the mundane activities

o f

the campo bank. The exuberant Baroque design of Baldassare Longhena's Church of

Santa

Maria della Salute dominates the opposite bank o f the canal. To the right , the

sun-bathed facade

of the Abbey of San Gregori o

rises above

a shadowy row ofhouses.

O n the far sideof the Salute stand the Semina rio Patriarcale and the Dogana. Th e

mou th of the canal opens onto a distant vista w i t h the Riva degli Schiavoni visible

beyond the bustling commerceof the bacino di San Marco. Over the dogana w a l l

can be seen the palecampanile a nd dome of San Giorgio Maggiore.

The View

of

the Grand Canal is the prima ry version of a composi ti on

repeated

in

at

least

fourteen versions by

Canaletto's

studio. Its at tri buti on to Bellotto is supported

by a pen-a nd-ink drawing by hi m in the HessischesLandesmuseum, Darmstadt, that

follows the Getty composition closely. The Cleveland Museum

o fArt's

View of the

Piazza

San Marco Looking Southwest, lon g considered the pendant of the Getty Grand

Canal, has recent ly

been

reattribut ed to Bell otto. DJ



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20 G I O V A N N I

BATTISTA

LUSIERI


A

View of the Bay ofNaples,

1791

Pen and ink, gouache,

and warercolor on paper

102x272 cm (40x107 in.)

Along the lower center edge,

signed and dated G.B. Lusier 1791

85.GC.281

Detailoverleaf

Executed on six large

sheets

o f watercolor

paper,

this sweeping

view

o f the western

Neapolitan

coastline is Lusieri's largest and boldest work.

While

the clientele for his

topographical

paintings were

primarily

English aristocrats on the Grand Tour, this

extraordi nary image was no t created for the touris t market . I t was madefrom a

window

i n the Palazzo Sessa, the Neapolitanresidenceof SirW i l l i a m Hamilton,

British Minister

Plenipotentiary

from

1764 to 1799. On July 5, 179 1,Lusieri wrote

to

Hamilton, t hen o n leave i n Lond on , that he had supervised the loa ding o f the "la

drawing"

onto a ship. It

would seem l i k e l y

that it was this

work, perhaps

commissio

by

Hamilton

so that when he returned to his often glo omy native land, he cou ld

s t i

enjoy the sunny vistafrom his

house

in Naples and share i tw i t h his friends.

While Naples has become mu ch more densely popul at ed in the two centuries si

Lusieri made thisview, much is

s t i l l

recognizable owing to his remarkabl e accuracy

and clarity. Contemporar ies comment ed on the then unusual practice o f

drawing

an

coloring

his

scenes

on the spot rather than in his studio. Lusieri's detailed observatio

and almost fanatical precision

suggest

that he used

some

sort of mechanical aid, suc

as a camera obscura, whose arran gement o fmirrors an d lenses enablesthe tracin g o f

outlines. Whether he did or not, it is clear that he f i r m l y resisted the trend toward

the romanticlandscape,always seeking to imitate nature faithfully.

Unfortunately,

Lusieri's pain tin g can be exhibited

only

occasionally, and then un

very

low

light.

The watercol or medi um is one o f the most

fugitive,

and every exposu

to light means some

fading

w i l l

occur, even i f i t is not immediately perceptible.

Bec

pigments fade at varyingrates, i t is remarkable t hat Lusieri's renowned balance o f co

is so beaut ifull y preserved i n thiswork. By showing it

on ly periodically,

we hope to

preserve this magnif icent record of the

appearance

o f the Bay o f Naples in 1791.

I T A L I A N SCHO OL


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21 D I E R I C

BOUTS

Flemish, circa 1415-1475

The

Annunciation,

circa

1450-55

Distemper on linen

90 x 74.5 cm (357/16x 29 in.)

85.PA.24

The

Annunciation belongs to a set o f

five

paintings that

originally

constituted a

polyptychan altarpiece that evident ly consisted o f an upr ig ht central section

flanked

on

each side by two pictures, one above the other. The other

scenes

in this

series

have been identified as The Adoration of the Magi (private

collection),

The

Entombment (London , National

Gallery),

The

Resurrection (Pasadena,Nor ton

Simon

Museum),

and probably The

Crucifixion

in the center (perhapsthe paint ing now in

the MuseesRoyauxd'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels). Becausethe Getty painting depicts

the earliest

scene

in the l ife o f Chri st, i t was proba bly placed at the top left -hand

corner o f the al tarpiece.

Dieric

Bou ts was active i n

Louvain

(in present-day Belg ium) duri ng all o f his

mature

l i fe .

He was the most di stin gui shed of the artists who followed in the footsteps

o f

Jan van Eyck (active 142 2- di ed 1441) and Rogier van der Weyden (1 39 9/ 14 00 -

1464),

although much

less

is known about his

l i fe

a nd relati vely few o f his pain tings

survive.His style was generally more austere than that o f his contemporaries, and his

work consistently projects asenseof restraint. It is also typifiedby great precision.

I n

The Annunciation, the arti st has pro vided a

typically

convincing

sense

o f

space

and has gone beyond his

predecessors

in

allowing

us to feel the character o f Ma ry's

private chamber. I t is a relat ively colorless sanctuary, mu ch like the cells inhabited

by the monks and nunswho no rmall y commissioned and

lived

w i t h such altarpieces.

The exception to this austerity is the

brilliant

red canopy over the bench behind Mary.

The symbolic l i ly , normallypresenti n depictions o f this

scene,

has been omitted, and

the conventionally

colorfu l floor

tiles are much subdued. The

V i r g i n

wears a grayish

mantle rather than the usual deepblue, and Gabriel isdressed in

white,

not the highly

ornamented

clothing

usuallyworn by archangels. Such details were of ten sti pulated in

advance by the ecclesiastics who commissioned awork, and inthesedepartures

from

tradition,

amessage is probably being conveyed that had particular significance for the

institution

i n

which

the altarpiece was to be

seen.

The

Annunciation,

like

the other sections o f the altarpiece, was pain ted on

linen

rather tha n woo d. Thi s was sometimes done t o make a pai nt in g more portable, b ut it

ishighly unusu al for a pol ypt ych o f this size. BF

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22 Workshop of

RO GI E R

VA N DER

WEYDEN

Flemish,active mid-15th cenrury

The

Dream of

Pope Sergius,

circa

1440

O i l on panel

89 x 80 cm (35x

31

n.)

72.PB.20

This

panel shows

Pope

Sergius dreaming that an angel presentedh i m w i t h the mite

and crosier of Saint Lamber t (Bisho p o f Ma ast richt u n t i l hisassassination, about 70

and that he would consecrateSaint Hube rt to this impo rt an t bishopric. The papal

authority for the dis tr ib ut io n o f offices is reinforced

typologically

by the stone roun

abovehim,which shows Christ consecrating the

first

pope, Saint Peter.Outside, wi

abrick enclosure, a lawyer or noble and a Franciscan

friar

kneelbeside the papal ret

and present petiti ons to Sergius requesting benefits o r indulgences. Ar oun d the ti me

this panel was painted the pope's right to distr ibu te bishophri cs and ecclesiastical of

was direc tl y challenged by the French king and by the Council of Basel. This panel,

perhaps,offers visual confirmation ofdivinely sanctioned papal authority,while the

Franciscan may refer to the donor's religious affiliation.

I n

the background, an imaginativeeffort has been made to

re-create

a plausible

topography for medieval Rome. The round

form

o f the Castel Sant'Angelo appears

convincingly

depicted on the ba nk o f the Tiber, w i t h Saint

Peter's

beyond. The obel

beside

the basilica helps to situate the conventional symbols of

Rome's

landmark

buildings into a coherent

street

plan , mak in g it a very early north ern vi ew o f an

Italian city.Th e ability to depict objects in minute detail and to create a coherent

spatial enviro nment were among the major achievements o f Flemish pai nt in g in

the fifteenth century.

The Dream

of

Pope Sergius and its companion, The Exhumation

of

Saint Hub

(London, Nat ion al Gallery), were probably wingsfrom a lost altarpiece that stood i

the Chapel o f Saint Hub ert i n the Church o f Saint Gudule , Brussels. The chapel wa

i n use by 1440, the period when Rogier was town painter to the

city

of Brussels (he

was appoin ted before 143536). Dendrochronolo gic al analysis of the oak panel also

supports adate aroun d 1440. Distin ctio ns in qualit y and spatial conception seem to

exclude Rogier's direct part ici pat io n, and the panel is generally consi dered to be a

product of the master'sworksho p.

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23 JAN BR U EGHE L

T H E ELDER

Flemish,

1568-1625

The

Entry of the Animals into

Noah's Ark, 1613

O i l on panel

54.6 x 83.8 cm 2 1 x 33in.)

A t lowerright,signed

BRUEGHEL

F E C .

1613

92.PB.82

A t

the dawn o f the modern era in Europe, therewas keen in terest i n the precise

rendering of the natural

world,

as evidenced by the

landscapes

and

s t i l l

lifes

o f

Jan

Brueghel.

The artist favored small-scale pictures brought to a high

degree

o f

finish,

reminiscent of the work o fminiaturists.The tonal ity of hislandscapesis quite original,

showing

brilliantly

colored woo dla nd settings that evoke the mood of luxu ria nt nat ure.

Likewise,

the artist had a particular g i f t for depicting animals.

The story of Noah's ark (Genesis 6- 8) provi ded a subject w e l l suited to Brueghel's

abilities.

Beside a

trickling

stream that foreshadows t he comi ng deluge, a group of

curious people watch in wonder as Noah herds the creatures toward the ark. This panel

served as the prototype for Brueghel's so-called ParadiseL andscapes, inwhich the artist

celebrates the beauty and variety of creation.

Brueghel's appointment in 1609 as court painter to ArchdukeAlbert and Infanta

Isabella Clara Eugenia enabled h i m to study exotic animals

from l ife

in the ir menagerie

i n Brussels. However, the depictio ns o f the lio ns, the horse, an d the leopards were

inspiredb y examples in the works o f his great friend and fellow artist Peter Paul

Rubens. The lions are depicted in

Daniel

in the

Lions'

Den (Washington, D . C . ,National

Gallery of

A r t ) ;

the horseappears in several equestrian port rai ts from

Rubens's

Spanish

and Italian periods; and the leopards

appear

inLeopards, Satyrs, and Nymphs (Montreal

Museum of Fine

Arts).

D C

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24

JOACHIM WTEWAEL

Dutch,

1566-1638

Mars

and Venus Surprised

by Vulcan, 1606-10

O i l

on copper

20. 25x 15.5 cm (8 x 6 in. )

A t

bottom right,signed

JOACHIMWTEN/WAEL FECIT

83.PC.274

This

enchan tin g pai nt in g on copper, one of the Museum's smallest and most precious,

depicts a story

from

Ovid'sMetamorphoses in

which

Vulcan, in the company of other

gods, surpriseshiswife,Venus, who is in bed w i t hMars. Vulcan, on the right, removes

the net of bronze, which he had forged to trap the adulterous pair,while Cupid and

Apollo

hover above, drawi ng back the canopy. Mercu ry, standing

near

Vulcan, looks

up gleefully toward Dianawhile Saturn, sitting on a cloud

near

her, smiles wickedly as

he

gazes

down on the cuckolded husband. Jupiter, i n the sky at the top,

appears

tohave

just arrived. Thro ug h an opening in the bed hangings, Vul can can be seen a second

time in the act offorging his net.

Mythological themeso f this kind were especially popular during the sixteenth

century, when interest in the classical

world

reached apeak.This rendering of the

infa mous legend of Mars and Venus exemplifies the Du t ch fascination w i t h human

misbehavior, particularly

scenes

of lecherous mis conduct ; Wtewael

here

anticipates

the earthy humo r o f the later

seventeenth

century.

The use of copper as a suppo rt f or pain tin gs was especially widespread du ri ng t he

late sixteenth and early

seventeenth

centuries. The very hard and polished surface len t

itself to small,highly finished and detailed pictures. Copper was w e l l suited for the

presentpictu re, since it allowed for subtler gradations o f tone a nd greater intensity o f

color

than canvas.Fortunately, the painting is in perfect condition and

virtually

as

brilliant

as the day it was painted. Due to the erotic subject matter, i t may have been

kept hidden, and

hence

protected, over theyears.The Museum's pai nt ing was proba bly

the one commissioned by

Joan

van Weely, a jeweler from Amste rdam. BF

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25

AMBROSIUS

BOSSCHAERT

T H E ELDER

Dutch,

1573-1621

Flower

Still

Life,

1614

O i l on copper

28.6x38.1 c m ( 1 1 x 15 in. )

A t bottomleft, signed AB.1614.

83.PC.386

Paintings of floral

s t i l l lifes

began toappearat t he very end o f the sixt eenth centu ry

both

the Low Countries an d in German y and were linked to a

rising

interest i n bota

Furthermore, the

collecting

of

different

types of

flowers,

already a passion among th

Dutch, becamevirtually

a national pastime

during

the course of the seventeenth

century

(see no. 38).

Middelburg,

an i mpor ta nt seaport and tr adi ng center and the capital of the

province

of Zeeland, was the center of

production .

The

Middelburg

school's founde

was Ambrosius Bosschaert, who dedicated his entire

career

to

s t i l l - l i f e

painting .

S t i l l lifes

often had symbol ic or religious connotat ions , a nd flowers were sometim

employed to represent the transitoriness ofl i fe or to allude to salvation and redemp

The Museum's

s t i l l l i fe ,

p ai nt ed on copper (see no . 24) , contain s a basket o f flowers

w i t h

insects; among them are a dragonfly resting on the table nearby and a

butterfly

perched on a tulip's stem. I f the compos it ion at one ti me suggested a specific meani n

to

the viewer, it has been lost to us. We can appreciate, however, the

freshness

of

the blossoms and the delicate rendering of

detail.

As was often the

case,

the picture

contains a number of flowers that

could

not have bloomed

during

thesame season:

roses,

forget-me-nots,

lilies

o f the

valley,

a cyclamen, aviolet,a hyacinth, and, of cou

tulips.

A l l are arranged i n a str aig htforwa rd and si mple manner,

w i t h

the basket i n t

center and the single flowers

laid

out parallel to the pictu re plane.

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26 PETER PAUL RUB ENS

Flemish,

1577-1640

The

Entombment, circa 1612

O i l oncanvas

131 x 130.2 cm (51 x5 1 n.)

93.PA.9

Recognized as the

greatest

painter of his day, Rubens received commissions

from

all

over Europe and created profound,original

statements

of

virtually

every conceivable

subject. Am on g his

greatest

contri but ion s to Baroque art were religious pain tings t hat

expressemotion w i t h an intensity that has never been surpassed.

This

powerful

pai nt in g was carefully composed to focus devoti on onJesusChrist's

sacrifice and suffering. Th e beauti fulcorpseis reverentially supported by

those

closest

to him in

l i fe .

At

left

is John the Evangelist. Mary Magdalene

weeps

in the background

as her constant companion, Mary, the mother

o fJames

the Younger and

Joseph,

contemplates Christ's wounded hand at

right.

The viewer is compelled to

j o i n

the

mourners, whose grief is focused i n the V i r g i n Mary, weeping as she implores heaven.

Rubenswas a devout Catholic, and his paintings give tangibleform to the main

concerns of his religion. To make religious experience more personal lyresonant, art

followed

contemporary meditation,which encouraged the faithful to imagine the

physical

horror of Christ's

crucifixion.

Here, the head of Chri st , frozen in the agony

o f

death, is turned to confront the spectator

directly.

Rubens also compels us to regard

the gaping wo un d in Christ's side, placi ng it at the exact center o f the canvas. The

compositionas a whole, as w e l l as the dra win g of the heroic muscu lat ure, conveys the

languid

q ual it y of the subject. The atrocit y of

crucifixion

is not underplayed but is

handled

w i t h

consummate art. Thu s, the blo od emanat ing

from

t he wo und is created

by an eloquent passageo f brushwork, lovingly applied w i t h great economy ofmeans.

The artist also adds a few symbol ic elements to this standard

scene

of lamentation

over the body ofChrist.

These

additions reflect the theological and

political

concerns

o f

the Count er-R eforma ti on in the early seventeenth century. Th us , the slab on which

the body is placed

suggests

an altar,

while

t he sheaf of wheat al ludes t o the bread of the

Eucharist, the equivalent o f Christ's body in the mass. At this time the Roman church

was defending the mystery of transubstantiation, the belief in the realpresenceof the

body of Chris t in the Eucharist, against Protestant criticism.The allusion to an altar and

the eucharistic meaning may indicate that thiswork was created to

serve

as an altarpiece

i n

a small chapel,

perhaps

one dedicated to the adorat ion of the Eucharist. DC

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27

A N T H O N Y V A N DYCK

Flemish, 1599-1641

Agostino Pallavicini,

circa 1621

O i l oncanvas

216 x 141 cm (85 x

5 5

in.)

A t

top right, nearback

o f

chair,

signedAnt

us

VanDyck fecit.

68.PA.2

Van

Dyck's reputat ion as an artist was already begi nni ng to spread thr oug ho ut Europe

when he traveled to

Italy

i n 1621. He i n i t i a l l y went to Genoa, where Flemish contacts

had been established for two centuries, largelybecauset he

Genoese

had strong

commercial

ties to

Ant werp,

Van Dyck's home. He remained in

Italy

for

five

years,

traveling

about to

view

large private collecti ons of

Italian

paintings, and

during

this

timehe was extensively employ ed to pain t port rait s. It was i n Genoa, however, t hat

Van

Dyck experienced his

greatestsuccesses

and executed

some

of his most fa mous and

impressive paintings.

The Museum's por tr ai t depicts a member o f the

Genoese

branch of the

Pallavicini

family,

whose coat o f arms may be

seen

on the drapery to the

left,

behind the sitter.

He

is shown in

flowing

red robes,

which

almost become the focus o f the pain tin g. I n

his righthand he holds a letter; at one time this must have identified him, but it is no

longer

legible.

Fro m other documen ted portra its , however, it can be established t hat

this is Agostino

Pallavicini

(1577-1649). The writer Giovan ni Pietro Bellori,who in

1672 described Van Dyck's stay in Genoa, relates t hat the artist pai nte d "Hi s

Serene

Highness the Doge

Pallavicini

in the costume

o f

Ambassador to the Pope."

Pallavicini

was not made the doge (the

chief

magistrate o f the

Genoese

republic)

u n t i l

1637, but

he was

sent

to Rome to pay homage to the recently elected

Pope

Gregory X V in 1621 ,

and it is in this capacity that we see h i m. Thu s, t he Museum's pa in ti ng is one o f the

first

executed by VanDyck after his arrival in

Italy.

Ou r present-day image of seventeenth-century Genoese

nobility

owes more to Van

Dyck than to any other artist, and the Museum's painting

typifies

the grandeur and

stateliness o f his portra its. They are usually

l ife

size and f u l l length,

w i t h

a background

o f

pillars

and

swirling,

l uxuri ous draperies. A t the

time,

no other artist in

Italy could

produce the samegrand effect, and the result so enthralled the European nobility that

Van

Dyck's style eventually set the standard for portraiture in

Italy,

England, and

Flanders. BF

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28

A N T H O N Y

V A N DYCK

Flemish,

1599-1641

Thomas

Howard,

The

Earl of

Arundel,

circa 1620-21

O i l

oncanvas

102.8 x 79.4 cm

40

x 3 1 in.)

86.PA.532

Thomas

Howard,

second

Earl o fArundel

(1 585 -16 46) , was one o f the great collectors

o f

art and patrons o f artists in early seventeenth-century En gl and.

W i t h

his interests

shared by

King

Charles

I

the earl was able to restore the

status

of his recently disgraced

houseto its former glory.This portraitatteststo Arundel'sgifted connoisseurship.

Apparently

recogn izing Van Dyck's talent before most of his contemporaries, he

commissioned the work between 1620 and 1621,

during

the artist's

first brief

stay in

England.

It is one of

only

three

surviving

paintings

from

this

visit.

Arundel

is shown as a member of the Or der o f the Garter ; he holds the

gold

medallion o f Sain t George (the so-calledlesser George), one of the emblems worn by

the twenty-four knights who consti tuted the most eminen t and noble men arou nd the

king.

To the right, w i t h a few broad strokes, Van Dyck has

freely

evoked alandscape

that payshomage to both Arundel's and his own admir ati on

o fVenetian

painting,

especially

Titian's

late works. Van Dyck's

ability

to

i n s t i l l

his sitters

w i t h

a sensitive

grandeur madehi m the most famous F lemish portrait ist in Europe. Thi swork already

heralds his genius, which would lat er come to epi tomi ze the Stua rt court in the 1630s.

DJ

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29 PIETER

JANSZ.

SAEN RE DAM

Dutch,

1597-1665

TheInterior of

the

Church

of

Saint

Bavo,

Haarlem, 1628

O i l

on panel

38.5

x

47.5 cm(15 x

18 in.)

A t

bottom

right,

signed

P.

SAENREDAM F. AD 1628

85.PB.225

First

practiced in sixteen th-cent ury Flanders, archit ectural pain ti ng was raised to a

highlyrefined profession by a number of

Dutch

artis ts who restrict ed themselves to

genre. They concentrated on the depiction of churches, which i n the Netherlands w

relatively

unadorned and reflected a rather

austere

approach not

only

to religion bu

to l i fe itself.

Saenredamis credited w i t h having begun the

tradition

in the Netherlands. The

earlier Flemish architectural views had largelybeen exercisesin the

newly

perfected

techni que of perspective, and the buil dings depicted were usually invent ions.

Saenredam

himself

trained as an architectural draftsman, and the Museum's paintin

inscribed

1628, is the earliest dated example of his

work.

It is the

first

of a

series

of

paintings and drawings of Saint Bavo's church in Haarlem.

Rather than sketching churches

from

the nave (the

long

central

hall),

Saenredam

often

stood at more obscure vantage points. He then worked up a

finished

cartoon,

or

design,

which

he transferred

directly

to a prepared panel. He often made

adjustments to the composit ion, altering architectural details or proportion s. One o

the two preparatory drawin gs for the Museum's p ai nt in g that survive reveals the arti

decision to eliminate three doors at the rear of the transept an d replace them w i t h a

painted altarpiece. He also rounded the Gothic

arches

at the

sides

and added

some

stained glass.Despite

these

modifications , the subtle, almost mon ochromatic

colori

atmosphere, and general

flavor

of the picture convey a more accurate impression of

what

it was

like

to

visit

a

Dutch

chu rch tha n had ever before existed.

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30

R E M B R A N D T

H A R M E N S Z.

V A N

RI JN

Dutch,

1606-1669

The

Abduction of

Europa,

1632

O i l

on panel

62.2

x

77 cm

(24

x

30

5

/16 in.)

On

the

brown

stone below standing

women

at

lower right,

signed

RH L

van Ryn.1632.

95.PB.7

I n

the Metamorphoses (2:833875), the poet

Ovid

tells how Jupiter, disguised as a

white b u l l ,

seduces

the Princess Europa away

from

her companions and carries her

across

the sea. Rembrandt evokes the

substance

and

lyricism

o f this classical story

by

showing Europa as she "trembles w i t h fear and looks back at the receding shore,

holding

fast a ho rn .. . her fluttering garments

stream[ing]...

i n the

wind."

He also

enriches Ovid's narrative through his

v i v i d

characterization o f

emotion.

Europa,

stunned by her abduction, turns toward her two companions. The youngest throws

up her arms in horro r, drop pin g the garlan d of flowers that momen ts ago was destin

for t he bull's neck. Her sudden shock contrasts

w i t h

the contained

sadness

o f her o ld

companion, who

clasps

her

hands

i n

grief

as she rises to look at the princess one last

time; only

she understands Europa's fate, an d it is her

gaze

that the princess meets.

Rembrandt's comedic

sense

lightens the drama. Jupiter,

limited

by his disguise,

expressesvictory i n bovine fashion by excitedly extending his

t a i l

as he plunges

from

the shore. Jupiter's rea ctio n is i n sharp contrast to the passive, mindless

horses

who

stand

harnessed

to the princess's grandiose and

immobile

carriage. Seemingly too lar

for the road, and w i t h itssunshade uselessly open i n the shadows, the carriage contr

w i t h the

swift white

b u l l who carries Europa

into

the

light

toward the new continen

that

w i l l

one day

bear

her name.

A

lu min ou s landscape also actsas a protagon ist i n this drama. The meticulousl y

detailed, dark,

wall-like

stand o f

trees serves

as a f o i l to the loosely handled, light-sh

pink

a nd bl ue regions o f sea an d sky. Th e unu sual ly low hori zon

creates

an expansiv

vista

where clouds, shore, and sea gently

r o l l

toward each other.

Along

the horizon ,

shrouded in mist, is

Tyre,

the city forsaken by Europa.

The carriage'sglittering gold highlights and the

richly

varied textures o f the sumptu

costumes show Rembrandt both

delighting

i n his mastery

o fvisual

effects and

inviting

the viewer to

share

his pleasure in

detail.

The

sea sglowing

reflections, the spray tosse

up by the

well-clad

princess's

shoeskimming

through the water, and her delicate gra

o f

the soft flesh o f the bull 's neck captivate the eye and linger in the

mind.

The pain

shows the young artistworkingat the height of his powers upon hisarrivalin Amsterda

i n 1632.

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31 R E M B R A N D T

H A R M E N S Z . V A NRIJN

Dutch,

1606-1669

Daniel

and Cyrus Before

the

Idol

Bel, 1633

O i l o

masterpieces van gogh

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