Saint Barbara

c. 1860/1910

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    alabaster

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 120.9 x 46.2 x 36.2 cm (47 5/8 x 18 3/16 x 14 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1952.5.102

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Reportedly in Portugal by 1911;[1] Leouzon le Duc collection, Paris; purchased 20 February 1922 by (Jacques Seligmann et Cie, Paris and New York); sold November 1924 to Albert J. Kobler [c. 1886-1936], New York;[2] sold 22 August 1930 to William Randolph Hearst [1863-1951], New York; sold 18 April 1940 to (French and Co., New York); [3] sold before 1945 to Dr. Preston Pope Satterwhite [1867-1948], New York; sold 31 January 1945 to (French and Co., New York); sold 29 November 1949 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York, as Franco-Portuguese, c. 1510;[4] gift by exchange 1952 to NGA.
[1] French and Co., New York, wrote to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation on 24 November 1948 that the sculpture was "acquired in Portugal after the deposal of King Manuel in 1911" (transcription of letter in NGA curatorial files). There is no mention of this provenance in the Seligmann documentation (see note 2).
[2] Documents in the records of Jacques Seligmann & Co., held by the Archives of American Art, Washington, D.C. (boxes 54, 133, 192, 246, 287, and 298), provide information about Seligmann's acquisition and sale of the sculpture. See copies in NGA curatorial files of the consular invoices, a telegram mentioning that a client in New York had admired the sculpture, the November 1924 invoice to Kobler, his 14 November 1924 acknowledgement that he had received the sculpture, and annotated photographs. The sculpture was number 2884 in Seligmann's New York inventory. See also: Germain Seligman, Merchants of Art: 1880-1960, Eighty Years of Professional Collecting, New York, 1961: 87-88, pl. 28.
[3] The information about Hearst's ownership can be found in the 1941 inventory of his collection (The William Randolph Hearst Collection: photographs and acquisition records on microfiche, Taylor Coffman, ed., New York, 1987: fiche 203; copies in NGA curatorial files). Mary Levkoff of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art kindly brought these records to the Gallery's attention; see her letters of 30 January 2003 and 19 September 2006 in NGA curatorial files. Hearst's records indicate that he sold the sculpture on 18 April 1940 to French and Co., although the dealer's stock sheets only list their purchase as from Dr. P.P. Satterwhite in early 1945.
[4] Information on the ownership and sale by Satterwhite comes from French and Co. stock sheets and photographs, on file at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California. The 1945 stock sheet (marked "1/31/45" under "Date Received") indicates the sculpture came with a pedestal that is partly visible in one of the photographs, the negative of which indicates it was taken in 1941. Libby Spatz of the Getty provided this information (see copies and her letter of 9 October 1986 in NGA curatorial files). Robert Samuels, Jr., of French and Co., recalled that the dealer apparently took the sculpture as partial payment by Satterwhite for something else and gave him a credit for it (see notes by Alison Luchs of a phone conversation on 12 December 1986, in NGA curatorial files).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1939

  • Masterpieces of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture from 1300-1800, New York World's Fair, 1939, no. 419, as St. Barbara, holding a Chalice with the Host by French School of Troyes.

1949

  • On loan to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1949-1952.

2008

  • Hearst the Collector, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2008-2009, no. 125, repro.

Bibliography

1951

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1945-1951. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951: 240, no. 107, repro., as Franco-Portuguese School, early 16th century.

1958

  • French and Co. Inc., Inaugural Exhibition, October 1958. Text by Yolanda LeWitter. New York, 1958: unpaginated, repro., as Franco-Portuguese.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 426, repro., as Franco-Portuguese School, early 16th century.

1961

  • Seligman, Germain. Merchants of Art. New York, 1961: 87-88, pl. 28, as French, sixteenth century.

1964

  • Eisler, Colin. Review of Seligman, Germain. Merchants of Art. New York, 1961. In Art Bulletin 46 (1964): 117, as "Franco-Portuguese, sixteenth century."

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 156, as Franco-Portuguese, sixteenth century.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: repro. 138.

1976

  • Middeldorf, Ulrich. Sculptures from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools XIV-XIX Century. London, 1976: 122, figs. 205-207, as Portuguese, nineteenth century (?).

  • Pope-Hennessy, John. "A Quota of Masterpieces." Apollo 104 (1976): 72.

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 95, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q63810071

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