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Byzantine 13th Century (artist) Enthroned Madonna and Child, 13th century tempera on panel overall: 130.7 x 77.1 cm (51 7/16 x 30 3/8 in.) painted surface: 124.8 x 70.8 cm (49 1/8 x 27 7/8 in.) framed: 130.5 x 77 x 6 cm (51 3/8 x 30 5/16 x 2 3/8 in.) Gift of Mrs. Otto H. Kahn 1949.7.1 On View |
Object 1 of 8
Provenance
Said to have come from a church, or convent, in Calahorra (province of La Rioja, Spain);[1] (Weissburger, Madrid), in 1912; (Emile Pares, Madrid, Paris, and New York); (his sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 18-19 February 1915, 2nd day, no. 306, as by Giovanni Cimabue); G.W. Arnold, New York. Otto Kahn [1867-1934], New York, by 1917;[2] by inheritance to his widow, Mrs. Otto Kahn [d. 1949], New York.
[1] This provenance is first given by Sirén (1917, 1918) and repeated in the subsequent literature. The same provenance is also claimed for the so-called Mellon Madonna, NGA 1937.1.1, ever since its first appearance. Hans Belting, on the basis of information derived, he claims, from some “notes of E.B. Garrison”, states that the Spanish provenance of the two paintings is fictitious; he considered it to be the dealer Weissburger’s invention. NGA systematic catalogue author Miklòs Boskovits does not see any firm basis for such an allegation. Why should such an apparently unlikely provenance be invented, or fabricated, for a painting considered to be, as was the Kahn Madonna, the work of an Italian artist, Cimabue or Cavallini? Speculations like those put forward by Mayer (1924) and Stubblebine (1966), linking the arrival of NGA 1949.7.1 and its companion-piece (NGA 1937.1.1) to Spain with the story of Anna Constance, widow of the emperor John III Ducas Vatatzes (who lived in Valencia since 1269 and died there in 1313), are, for the time being, idle. There could be various other ways to explain the presence of the two paintings at Calahorra (see Demus, 1958, 93-94); the provenance should, according to Boskovits, be considered valid until otherwise demonstrated.
[2] According to the 1917 Kleinberger exhibition catalogue, the painting was already owned by Otto Kahn in that year. For the previous ownerships see Shapley, 1979, 97. Arnold’s name is recorded in an annotated copy of the 1915 sale catalogue in the NGA Library.
Associated Names
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