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A woman and the baby she holds float in a cloud flanked by two winged angels, as two women stand below in this tall, vertical painting. All the people have pale skin shaded with smoke gray, and their necks, fingers, and limbs are elongated. At the top center of the painting Mary holds Jesus on her lap. Jesus is nude except for a white cloth wrapped around his middle. His body faces us as he looks off to our left. He has blond, curly hair and the pudgy features of a baby. He grasps the forefinger of Mary’s right hand, to our left, and his other hand rests by his side. Mary looks down at the baby with her head tilted to our right. One hand reaches around Jesus’s torso and the other arm is lifted, so he can hold her finger. She wears a white veil draped over chestnut-brown hair and a sapphire-blue cloak over a voluminous, rose-pink dress. A winged angel looks on to each side of this pair. Both angels have blond hair and delicate features. The angel to our left wears a parakeet-green robe and has ice-blue wings. That angel crosses arms over the chest, as the angel to our right holds hands together in prayer. The second angel wears shell white and has silvery-gray wings. Both are seen from the chest up from behind puffy, pale blue clouds. Above the angels, rows of ghostly winged baby heads are loosely painted with tones of ivory white and slate gray. They frame a golden glow that surrounds Mary’s head. At Mary’s feet are five more winged baby heads. In the bottom third of the painting, two women stand with their bodies facing inward, toward each other. They both have honey-brown hair, snub noses, and pointed chins. The woman to our left looks up at Mary with large, glistening eyes, her pale pink lips parted. She wears a canary-yellow robe over a topaz-blue, long-sleeved garment. One hand curves over the head of a lion standing in front of her, holding one end of a long palm frond that rests on her right shoulder, closer to us. Two curling lines on the lion’s forehead are the cursive Greek letters for Delta and Theta, which are the artist’s initials. The woman to our right looks down so we see her in profile. A gossamer-white veil covers her hair and drapes across her chest. She is enveloped in a shimmering, flame-red cloak. A white lamb lies across the woman’s left forearm, closer to us, and the woman holds her other hand up to her chest.

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)

Madonna and Child with Saint Martina and Saint Agnes, 1597/1599

West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 28

Medium

oil on canvas, wooden strip added at bottom

Dimensions

overall: 193.5 × 103 cm (76 3/16 × 40 9/16 in.)

framed: 220.98 × 136.52 × 14.61 cm (87 × 53 3/4 × 5 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.26

Artists / Makers

El Greco (painter) Greek, 1541 - 1614

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

on the lion's head in cursive Greek, the initials of the painter's full name (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) represented by the letters for Delta and Theta: dth

Provenance

Commissioned 9 November 1597 by the Capilla de San José [Chapel of Saint Joseph], Toledo; sold 1906 by the directors of the chapel to (Boussod Valadon, Paris); sold in same year to Peter A. B. Widener [1834-1915], Elkins Park, PA;[1] inheritance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener [1860-1943], Elkins Park, PA.[2]

[1] Edith Standen notes in NGA curatorial files.

[2] "The Perfect Collection, as Achieved by Mr. Widener of Philadelphia," Fortune (September 1932): 66, 69.

Associated Names

Boussod et Valadon
Capilla de San José
Widener, Joseph E.
Widener, Peter Arrell Brown

Exhibition History

1915: Loan Exhibition of Paintings by El Greco and Goya, M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, 1915, 38, no. 36.

1976: Zapadnoevropeiskaia i Amerikanskaia zhivopis is muzeev ssha [West European and American Painting from the Museums of USA], State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad; State Pushkin Museum, Moscow; State Museums, Kiev and Minsk, 1976, unpaginated and unnumbered.

1982: El Greco of Toledo, The Toledo [Ohio] Museum of Art; Prado, Madrid; National Gallery of Art, Washington; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1982-1983, 167, 241-242, 260, no. 31, pls. 49, 50.

1986: El Greco Exhibition, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; Nara Prefectural Museum of Art; Aichi Art Gallery, Nagoya, 1986-1987, 195, no. 25, pl. 25.

2003: El Greco: The Illumination and Quickening of the Spirit, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The National Gallery, London, 2003-2004, no. 39, repro., as The Virgin and Child with Saints Martina (or Thecla?) and Agnes (shown only in New York).

2014: El Greco in the National Gallery of Art and Washington-Area Collections: A 400th Anniversary Celebration, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2014-2015, no catalogue.

2014: El Greco: Painter and Master, Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo, 2014, fig. 24.

Technical Summary

In structure and condition this painting is almost identical to its companion piece, Saint Martin and the Beggar (1942.9.25). The support is a single piece of twill-weave linen with an unusual diamond-weave pattern, lined to a plain-weave fabric. The tacking edges have been removed, but the original format was retained. The wooden strip attached to the bottom is a later addition. The gypsum ground and the two layers of reddish-brown imprimatura do not hide the weave texture. The artist utilized a variety of techniques, from wet-on-wet to scumbling. Exceptionally thick impasto can be noted on the face of Saint Martina and on the draperies of the virgin martyrs and angels. X-radiographs reveal an important change in the head of Saint Martina. A profile view of her head is visible immediately to the right of the upturned countenance in the completed painting. The features of the two faces are the same, but they are projected from different points of view. Originally, Martina's head was upright and her gaze directly focused on Agnes. The painting was taken off a panel stretcher (perhaps original) and relined in 1942.

Bibliography

1845: Amador de los Rios, José. Toledo pintoresco o descripción de sus más célebres monumentos. Madrid, 1845: 186.

1857: Parro, Sisto Ramón. Toledo en la mano o descripción histórico-artísica de la magnífica catedral y de los demás célebres monumentos. 2 vols. Toledo, 1857: 2:320.

1890: Palazuelos, El Vizconde de. Toledo: guía artísticopráctica. Toledo, 1890: 958.

1906: Lafond, Paul. "La Chapelle San José de Tolède et ses peintures du Greco." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 36 (1906): 388-389, repro. 389.

1907: Thieme, Ulrich, and Felix Becker, eds. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 33(1939):6.

1908: Cossío, Manuel B. El Greco. Madrid, 1908: 303, 588, no. 241, pl. 45 (also rev. ed., ed. Natalia Cossío Jímenez. Barcelona, 1972: 172, 174, 340, n. 9, fig. 50).

1911: Mayer, August L. El Greco. Munich, 1911: 40.

1916: Berenson, Bernard, and William Roberts. Pictures in the Collection of P.A.B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early Italian and Spanish Schools. Philadelphia, 1916: unpaginated, repro.

1923: Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro., as The Virgin with Saint Inés and Saint Tecla.

1926: Mayer, August L. Dominico Theotocopuli, El Greco. Munich, 1926: 8, no. 35, pl. 33.

1931: Mayer, August L. El Greco. Berlin, 1931: 83, 99.

1931: Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 32, repro., as The Virgin with Santa Inés and Santa Tecla.

1935: Tietze, Hans. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935: 7, repro. (English ed., Masterpieces of European Painting in America. New York, 1939: 7, repro.).

1938: Goldscheider, Ludwig. El Greco. London, 1938: pl. 116 (also 1949 rev. ed.: pl. 110).

1940: Widener, Peter A.B. Without Drums. New York, 1940: 59-60.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 5, as The Virgin with Santa Inés and Santa Tecla.

1944: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 76, color repro., as The Virgin with Santa Inés and Santa Tecla.

1945: Cook 1945, 66, fig. 1.

1946: Favorite Paintings from the National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.. New York, 1946: 21-24, color repro., as The Virgin with Saint Inés and Saint Tecla.

1948: Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 31, repro., as The Virgin with Saint Inés and Saint Tecla.

1950: Camón Aznar, José. Dominico Greco. 2 vols. Madrid, 1950: 2:692-697, 1369, no. 227, figs. 530-531 (also 1970 rev. ed., 2:704-708, 1351, no. 236, figs. 582, 584-585).

1956: Guinard, Paul. El Greco. Translated by James Emmons. Cleveland, 1956: 26.

1956: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: 32, color repro., as THe Virgin with Saint Ines and Saint Tecla.

1957: Soehner, Halldor. "Ein Hauptwerk Grecos: die Kapelle San José in Toledo." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 9 (1957): 215-222, fig. 26.

1958: Gaya Nuño, Juan Anotonio. La pintura española fuera de España; historia y catàlogo. Madrid, 1958: 199, no. 1338, color pl. 6.

1958: Soehner, Halldor. "Greco in Spanien." Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 8 (1957): 167; Münchener Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 9/10 (1958/1959): 190, under nos. 56-57.

1960: Evans, Grose. Spanish Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1960 (Booklet Number Ten in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 16, color repro., as The Virgin with Saint Inés and Saint Tecla.

1961: Soehner, Halldor. Una obra maestra de El Greco: la Capilla de San José de Toledo. Translated by M. a de los Angeles Vázquez de Parga. Madrid, 1961: 30-32, pls, 20-24.

1962: Wethey, Harold E. El Greco and His School. 2 vols. Princeton, 1962: 1:47, fig. 115; 2:12-13, no. 17 (also Spanish ed. Madrid, 1967: 1:63, pl. 99, 2:28, no. 17).

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 162, no. 622, color repro. 163.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 62, as The Virgin with Saint Inès and Saint Tecla.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:198, color repro., as The Virgin with Saint Inès and Saint Tecla.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 54, repro., as The Virgin with Saint Inès and Saint Tecla.

1969: Manzini, Gianna, and Tiziana Frati. L'opera completa del Greco. Milan, 1969: no. 105-D, color pls. 17, 18.

1973: Gudiol y Ricart, José. Domenikos Theotokopoulos, El Greco. Translated by Kenneth Lyons. New York, 1973: 175-176, 348, no. 134, color fig. 160.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 162, repro., as The Virgin with Saint Inés and Saint Tecla.

1975: Lafuente Ferrari, Enrique, and José Manuel Pita Andrade. El Greco: The Expressionism of His Final Years. Translated by Robert E. Wolf. New York, 1975: 158, no. 57, color pls. 15-17.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 238, no. 306, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 187, repro.

1990: Brown, Jonathan, and Richard G. Mann. Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1990: 51-56, color repro. 53.

1990: El Greco of Crete: Exhibition on the Occasion of the 450th Anniversary of his Birth. Exh. cat. Iraklion, 1990: 238, fig. 2, 371.

1993: Griswold, Susanna P. "Two Paintings by El Greco: Saint Martin and the Beggar." Studies in the History of Art 41 (1993): 133, 140, 142-143, 147, repro. no. 5.

1998: Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane. "Virgin/Virginity." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:906.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 113, no. 87, color repro.

2011: Hall, Marcia. The Sacred Image in the Age of Art: Titian, Tintoretto, Barocci, El Greco, Caravaggio. New Haven, 2011: 237-238, color repro.