National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: Madonna and Child Enthroned with Donor
  • Overview
  • Inscription
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

"Remember me, O Mother of God. O Queen of Heaven, rejoice." These words, taken from an Easter psalm sung in the Virgin's honor, appear on the golden arch at the top of Carlo Crivelli's Madonna and Child Enthroned with Donor. The donor, the Albanian ecclesiastic Prenta di Giorgio, kneels in prayer near the Virgin's crown.

Crivelli's painting originally constituted the central section of a polyptych in the parish church at Porto San Giorgio, near Fermi. The crisp, sculptural forms reflect Crivelli's probable training in the humanist center of Padua. Yet the manner in which Crivelli's figures are modeled in light and shade also expresses a broader Renaissance concern with direct observation of nature.

Crivelli's very personal, almost metallic style must in large part be explained by the events of his life. He was born in Venice where the Gothic tradition lingered well into the fifteenth century. After spending some time in Padua, he settled in the Marches on the Adriatic, and there remained relatively unaffected by new trends.

Inscription

on the arch of the throne: MEMENTO.MEI.MATER.DEI.REGINA.CELI.LETARE (Remember me, O Mother of God, O Queen of Heaven rejoice!; Regina Coeli from an Easter antiphon)

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

Church of San Giorgio, Porto San Giorgio (the port of Fermo); recorded in 1771 and probably remained in the church until it was demolished in 1803; temporarily in the church of the Suffragio, then with the Salvadori family, Porto San Giórgio, by 1832; installed 1834 in the rebuilt church of San Giorgio; sold by Luigi Salvadori, then resold 1835 by the prior of the commune of Porto San Giorgio, to Henry Hudson, Portuguese embassy, Rome.[1] William Ward, 1st earl of Dudley [1817-1885, created earl 1860], Witley Court, Worcestershire, by 1851; (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 7 April 1876, no. 135 [same lot as four other panels from Porto San Giórgio polyptych]); purchased by (Martin Colnaghi, London).[2] Sir Francis Cook, 1st bt. [1817-1901], Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey; by inheritance to his son, Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 2nd bt. [1844-1920], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd bt. [1868-1939], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th bt. [1907-1978], Doughty House and Cothay Manor, Somerset; sold 31 October 1944 through (Francis A. Drey, London) to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1952 to NGA.

[1] According to Pietro Zampetti, Carlo Crivelli, Florence, 1986: 254-255, after a statue of Saint George was installed on the high altar of the rebuilt church, the polyptych was returned to the Salvadori family, who sold it to the collector Hudson. Contesting the Salvadori, the prior of Porto San Giorgio claimed ownership for the commune, and resold the painting to Hudson for a higher price.

[2] Algernon Graves, Art Sales From Early in the Eighteenth Century to Early in the Twentieth Century, 3 vols., London, 1918-1923: 1:184.

[3] According to the July-December 1944 report of the keeper of the Cook collection (transcription in NGA curatorial files, from the Cook Collection Archive in care of John Somerville, England), and the invoice from Drey to the Kress Foundation (copy in NGA curatorial files).

Exhibition History

1851
Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London, 1851.
1902
Exhibition of Works by The Old Masters. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1902, no. 20, as Virgin and Child.
1912
A Collection of Pictures of the Early Venetian School and Other Works of Art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1912, no. 2 (no. 7 and pl. VI of illustrated catalogue, titled Early Venetian Pictures and Other Works of Art).
1930
Exhibition of Italian Art 1200-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1930, no. 205 (no. 193 in commemorative catalogue published 1931; not in souvenir catalogue).
1946
Recent Additions to the Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no. 794.

Bibliography

1945
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 79, repro.
1946
Frankfurter, Alfred M. Supplement to the Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1946: 36, repro.
1951
Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 74-75, repro.
1952
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 46, color repro.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 128, repro.
1961
Seymour 1961 (Kress), 52, color repro. pl. 48
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 302, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 35
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:148, color repro.
1968
European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 28, repro.
1968
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 34-35, fig. 80.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 88, repro.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: I:150-151, II:pl. 106
1979
Watson, Ross. National Gallery of Art. London, 1979: 31, pl. 14, color repro.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 116, no. 96, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 107, repro.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 19, repro.
2003
Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 230-235, color repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 26, no. 19, color repro.

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