Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, prince of San Donato

Demidoff, Anatole prince of San Donato

Russian, 1812 - 1870

Explore Selected Works

A bearded man, a young man, and five monks stand in a cream-white hall hung with a map and paintings in this horizontal painting. The people all have pale, peachy skin. The scene is lit from windows lining the wall to our left, where three monks stand, presumably talking. They and the other two monks wear long white robes with marine-blue hoods and cloth panels that hang down the fronts of the cassocks. Two monks have their hoods up and the other two have their hair cut into rings around their heads. The bearded man, Christopher Columbus, stands to the right on the other side of the hall, looking at a map hanging there. He has chin-length, dark hair and wears a bronze-brown, knee-length jacket, dark blue, knee-length pantaloons, and golden yellow stockings. His right hand, closer to us, is planted palm out against his hip, and he holds a red hat in that hand. The other foot is perched on a long bench that stretches along that wall. The young man sits and leans back on the bench with one forearm along the bench’s armrest. His other hand rests on Columbus’s knee, and Columbus rests his hand on that. The boy has long brown hair and wears a red cap, a parchment-white robe over yellow sleeves, sage-green stockings, and laced, toeless boots. Two bundles and a long stick are against the wall on our side of the bench. An object on the floor next to Columbus’s standing leg is covered by a brown cloth. A gold chain and a pink hoof protrude from the blanket. One of the monks standing behind Columbus wears a tight-fitting blue cap. A rosary hangs over his cassock from his waist, and extra panels of blue fabric drape down over his shoulders. Four paintings in our view hang near the high ceiling of the hall, which has arched openings and a pink floor. Doors or oversized shutters swing into view at the far end of the hall. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left corner, “Eug. Delacroix. 1838.”
Eugène Delacroix, Christopher Columbus and His Son at La Rábida, 1838, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.127

Christopher Columbus and His Son at La Rábida

Eugène Delacroix · 1838 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.127

A woman sitting close to us in front of a deep landscape holds up a white cloth with the image of a man’s face on it in this vertical painting. The woman and the image on the cloth both have pale skin, hooded eyes, and long, straight noses. The woman’s shoulders are squared toward us, and her legs are tucked under her. Her head tips slightly to our right. Her eyes are downcast, and her bow-shaped lips are parted. She wears a white, turban-like headdress with a white veil covering her neck and upper chest. Her rose-pink dress is mostly covered by a voluminous, lapis-blue robe falling from the back of the headdress to the ground, where it puddles in angular folds. On the white cloth she holds up, the man’s head has chin-length blond hair and a beard. He looks out at us with light brown eyes. The woman sits on a grassy field. A dirt path cuts through a shallow valley across the picture, not far behind the woman. More harvest-yellow and moss-green hills roll back to a town with gray stone buildings with blue roofs along the horizon, which comes three-quarters of the way up the composition. The sky above deepens from white at the horizon to azure blue across the top of the painting.
Hans Memling, Saint Veronica [obverse], c. 1470/1475, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.46.a

Saint Veronica [obverse]

Hans Memling · c. 1470/1475 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.46.a

A gold chalice holding a thin, green serpent sits in an arched niche in this vertical painting. Light falls across the chalice from our right so it casts a shadow in the shallow gray stone niche. The chalice has a flaring, six-lobed foot, and a knob on the stem is set with red and green, diamond-shaped stones. The slender green snake drapes inside the cup’s round bowl. The serpent’s mouth is open and tongue flicks out to our right, and the tail hangs out of the chalice to our left.
Hans Memling, Chalice of Saint John the Evangelist [reverse], c. 1470/1475, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.46.b

Chalice of Saint John the Evangelist [reverse]

Hans Memling · c. 1470/1475 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.46.b

Clodion, Monumental Urn, c. 1860, marble, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1940.2.3

Monumental Urn

Clodion · c. 1860 · marble ·  Accession ID  1940.2.3

Clodion, Monumental Urn, c. 1860, marble, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1940.2.2

Monumental Urn

Clodion · c. 1860 · marble ·  Accession ID  1940.2.2

Bibliography

1865

  • Larousse, Pierre. Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle; français, historique, geographique, biographique, mythologique, bibliographique, litteraire, artistique, scientifique, etc.. 17 vols. Paris, 1865-90: 6: 400.

1886

  • Prato, Cesare da. Firenze ai Demidoff. Pratolino e San Donato. Florence, 1886: 67.

1913

  • Frimmel, Theodor von. Lexicon der Wiener Gemaeldesammlungen. 2 vols. Munich, 1913-1914:I:281-183

1928

  • Spreti, Vittorio. Enciclopedia storico-nobiliare italiana, famiglie nobili e titolate veventi riconosciute dal R. governo d'Italia.... 9 vols. Milan, 1928-36: 2: 608.

1976

  • Esper, Thomas. "Demidov Family in the Nineteenth Century," in Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History. Gulf Breeze, Florida, 1976: 51-54.

  • Hudson, Hugh D., Jr. "Demidov Family in the Eighteenth Century," in Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History. Gulf Breeze, Florida, 1976: 9:46-51.

1981

  • Borroni, Salvadori F. "I Demidoff collezionisti a Firenze." Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa XI/3 (1981):937-1003

1991

  • The New Enclyclopaedia Britannica. 32 vols. Chicago, 1991: 4:4.

1994

  • Francis Haskell, "Anatole Demidoff and The Wallace Collection," in Anatole Demidoff: Prince of San Donato (1812-70), London, The Wallace Collection, 1994: 9-31.

1998

  • Chelazzi. G., Jr. Il Principato Fiorentino dei Demidoff. Florence, 1998.