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Two muscular men lean away, whips raised, from a third man tied to a freestanding column, in a courtyard-like space in front of a deep landscape in this vertical painting. At the center of the composition, the pale-skinned man bound to the column, Jesus, stands with his body facing us. He turns his head to our right, perhaps looking at the man to that side. Jesus is cleanshaven, and his long brown hair falls back behind his shoulders. A delicate gold ring creates a halo, with red spokes to the top and sides. Ropes wrap around his upper arms, and he is nude except for a blue cloth around his hips. The column is mottled with tan and pale pink, and is topped with a gold, leafy capital. To each side, the men with the whips have more tan skin than Jesus. They stand in the same pose as each other, with their weight mostly in their right legs, and right hands raised with the whips. But the man to our left stands with his body facing us, and the one to our right stands with his back to us, so they each lean away from Jesus. The man to our left wears a pink cloth tied around his waist but is otherwise nude. His mouth is wide open, and his free hand reaches across his chest. His royal-blue cap is decorated with lavender-purple and gold ribbons and plumes. The man to our right is nude except for a parrot-green cap wrapped with a band of orange, like a turban. The area in which they stand has a floor patterned with butter yellow and white. On the far side of the courtyard, a central arch is flanked by one to each side, which are cut off by the left and right edges of the composition. The entablature running across the top of the arches is parallel to the top edge of the painting. The landscape beyond has grassy, rolling hills dotted with trees, reaching back to hazy blue mountains along the horizon. The sky above deepens from pale blue over the mountains to azure blue across the top, seen through the arches. Several vertical cracks are visible on the surface of the panel.

Bacchiacca

The Flagellation of Christ, c. 1512/1515

West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 20

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

overall: 55.9 x 48.1 cm (22 x 18 15/16 in.)

framed: 75.6 x 68 x 6.4 cm (29 3/4 x 26 3/4 x 2 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Samuel H. Kress Collection

Accession Number

1952.5.81

Artists / Makers

Bacchiacca (painter) Florentine, 1494 - 1557

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Provenance

Anonymous collection, Milan. George Morland [1763-1804], London.[1] A. Hope, London.[2] Sir John Rushout, 6th bt and 2nd baron Northwick [1770-1859], Northwick Park, near Moreton-in-the-Marsh, originally Worcestershire, now Gloucestershire, and Thirlestane House, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, by 1839;[3] (his estate sale, Phillips at Thirlestane House, 26 July-30 August 1859, no. 62, as by Raphael); John Watkins Brett [1805-1863], London; (his estate sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 5-14 and 18 April 1864, 5th day [April 9] no. 827, as by Raphael); purchased by Morland. Sir John Charles Robinson [1824-1913], London;[4] sold 1868 to Sir Francis Cook, 1st Bt. [1817-1901], Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey;[5] 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 July 1947 to (Gualtiero Volterra, London) for (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Florence and Rome);[6] sold July 1948 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[7] gift 1952 to NGA.

[1] According to Tancred Borenius, citing Sir John Charles Robinson, (Memoranda on Fifty Paintings, London, 1868: 6, no. 7), in A Catalogue of the Paintings at Doughty House Richmond & elsewhere in the Collection of Sir Frederick Cook Bt, Visconde de Monserrate. Volume 1, Italian Schools, ed. by Herbert Cook, 3 vols., London, 1913-1915: 1(1913): no. 54.

[2] According to the 1859 Northwick sale catalogue. "A. Hope" was probably either Adrian Elias Hope [1772-1834] or his nephew, Adrian John Hope [1811-1863], the son of the elder Adrian's older brother, Thomas Hope.

[3] The 2nd baron Northwick lent the painting to the British Institution in 1839.

[4] Included in Robinson's Memoranda..., (see note 1) as by Lo Spagna. Robinson sold most of the paintings in this catalogue to Cook in early 1868.

[5] Included in Borenius' catalogue of the Italian paintings in the Cook collection (see note 1), as School of Perugino.

[6] See copy of correspondence in NGA curatorial files, from the Cook Collection Archive in care of John Somerville, England. Volterra was Contini Bonacossi's agent in London.

[7] The Kress Foundation made an offer to Contini Bonacossi on 7 June 1948 for a group of twenty-eight paintings, including NGA 1952.5.81, identified at the time as by Perugino. The offer was accepted on 11 July 1948 (see copies of correspondence in NGA curatorial files, see also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2177).

Associated Names

Brett, John Watkins
Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
Contini Bonacossi, Alessandro, Count
Cook, 1st bt., Francis, Sir
Cook, 2nd bt., Frederick Lucas, Sir
Cook, 3rd bt., Herbert Frederick, Sir
Cook, 4th bt., Francis Ferdinand Maurice, Sir
Hope, A.
Kress Foundation, Samuel H.
Morland, George
Northwick, John Rushout, 2nd baron, Sir
Phillips
Robinson, John Charles, Sir
Unknown Collection, Milan
Volterra, Gualtiero

Exhibition History

1839: Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, and French Masters, British Institution, London, 1839, no. 41, as The Flagellation by Raphael.

1868: National Exhibition of Works of Art, Leeds, 1868, no. 53, as The Flagellation of Our Savior by Lo Spagna.

1902: Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1902, no. 19, as The Flagellation by Perugino.

Bibliography

1864: Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovan Battista Cavalcaselle. A New History of Painting in Italy from the Second to the Sixteenth Century. 3 vols. London, 1864-1866: 3(1866):288 n. 3, as by Pietro Perugino or a follower.

1868: Robinson, Sir John Charles. Memoranda on fifty pictures selected from a collection of works of the ancient masters. London, 1868: 6-7, no. 7, as by Lo Spagna.

1886: Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle. Storia della pittura in Italia dal secolo II al secolo XVI. 11 vols. Florence, 1886-1908: 4(1902): 250-251, as by Pietro Perugino or a follower.

1903: Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle. A History of Painting in Italy. 6 vols. Ed. Robert Langton Douglas (vols. 1-4) and Tancred Borenius (vols. 5-6). London, 1903-1914: 5(1914):341, as by Pietro Perugino or a follower, with a note that Tancred Borenius agrees with Umberto Gnoli that is by Bachiacca.

1913: Borenius, Tancred. A Catalogue of the Paintings at Doughty House, Richmond, and Elsewhere in the Collection of Sir Frederick Cook Bt. Vol. 1: Italian Schools. Ed. Herbert Cook. London, 1913: no. 54.

1917: Fischel, Oskar. “Die Zeichnungen der Umbrer – 2” Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 83 (1917): 156, fig. 160, as Workshop of Perugino (Bachiacca?).

1932: Brockwell, Maurice W. Abridged Catalogue of the Pictures at Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, in the Collection of Sir Herbert Cook. London, 1932: no. 215.

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: 96, no. 38, repro., as by Umbrian School (Possibly Raphael).

1955: Longhi, Roberto. “Percorso di Raffaello giovine.” Paragone 65 (1955): 21, fig. 18, as partly by Raphael.

1956: Camesasca, Ettore. Tutta la pittura di Raffaello. 2 vols. Milan, 1956: 1:81, as by Raphael.

1956: Suida, Wilhelm. “Kooperation in alten Gemälden.” In Festschrift W. Sas-Zaloziecky zum 60. Geburtstag. Graz, 1956: 165-166, as by Pietro Perugino and Raphael.

1959: Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 96, repro.. as by Umbrian School (Possibly Raphael).

1962: Camesasca, Ettore. Tutta la pittura di Raffaello. 2 vols. Milan, 1962: 1:81, as possibly by Raphael.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 133, as Umbrian School (Possibly Raphael).

1966: De Vecchi, Pierluigi. L’opera completa di Raffaello. Milan, 1966: 91, cat. 34, as probably not by Raphael.

1966: Dussler. Luitpold. Raffael. Kritisches Verzeichnis der Gemälde, Wandbilder und Bildteppiche. Munich, 1966: 76, cat. 136, as by Bachiacca.

1966: Nikolenko, Lada. Francesco Ubertini called Il Bacchiacca. New York, 1966: 11-12, 65-66, fig. 83, as Attributed to Bachiacca.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 120, repro., as Umbrian School (Possibly Raphael).

1968: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 106-107, fig. 253.

1969: De Vecchi, Pierluigi. The Complete Paintings of Raphael. London, 1969: 91, cat. 34, as probably not by Raphael.

1971: Dussler, Luitpold. Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of his Pictures, Wall-Paintings and Tapestries. London, 1971: 66-67, as by Bachiacca.

1972: Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 172, 243, 647, as by Raphael or an Anonymous 15th-century Umbrian.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 356, repro.

1978: Colbert, Charles D. “Bacchiacca in the Context of Florentine Art.” Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1978: 17, as Workshop of Pietro Perugino.

1979: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:512-513; 2:pl. 359.

1981: De Vecchi, Pierluigi. Raffaello, la pittura. Florence, 1981: 261, as among works attributed to Raphael.

1983: Knab, Eckhart, Erwin Mitsch, and Konrad Oberhuber. Raffaello, i disegni. Ed. Paola Dal Poggetto. Florence, 1983: 82-83, fig. 70, as School of Pietro Perugino.

1983: Knab, Eckhart, Erwin Mitsch, and Konrad Oberhuber. Raphael, die Zeichnungen. Stuttgart, 1983: 86, 88, fig. 75, as School of Pietro Perugino.

1984: Scarpellini, Pietro. Perugino. Milan, 1984: 50, 53, 111, cat. 136, figs. 224-225, as by Pietro Perugino and collaborator (Gianniacola di Paolo?).

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 172, no. 191, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 34, repro.

1986: Brown, David Alan. "Saint George in Raphael's Washington Painting." Studies in the History of Art 17 (1986):41, fig. 10.

1986: Cordellier, Dominique. Hommage à Andrea del Sarto. Exh. cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1986: 105-106.

1989: Todini, Filippo. La pittura umbra dal Duecento al primo Cinquecento. 2 vols. Milan, 1989: 1:328. 2:pl.1300, as by 'Baccio Ubertini' (?).

1992: Brown, David Alan. "Raphael, Leonardo, and Perugino: Fame and Fortune in Florence." In Serafina Hager, ed. Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael in Renaissance Florence from 1500-1508. Washington, DC, 1992: 48.

2002: La France, Robert G. “Francesco d’Ubertino Verdi, il Bachiacca, 1494-1557: ‘Diligente Dipintore.’” 2 vols. Ph.D. diss., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 2002: 2:581-582, cat. 123, pl. 123, as Studio of Pietro Perugino and Bartolomeo d'Ubertino Verdi.

2004: Toscano, Bruno. "Il Perugino e la scoperta umanistica del paesaggio." In Laura Teza, ed. Pietro Vannucci il Perugino. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studio, 25 - 28 ottobre 2000. Perugia, 2004:406.

2006: Higgitt, Catherine et al. “Working with Perugino: The Technique of an Annunciation attributed to Giannicola di Paolo.” National Gallery Technical Bulletin 27 (2006): 109 n. 64.

2008: La France, Robert G. Bachiacca: Artist of the Medici Court. Florence, 2008: 280-281, cat. 121, fig. 84, as Studio of Pietro Perugino (and Bartolomeo d'Ubertino Verdi?).

2010: Shaneyfelt, Sheri F. “Giannicola di Paolo’s collaboration with Pietro Perugino at the Cenacolo di Foligno, Florence.” Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 73, Bd. H. 4 (2010): 586 n. 32.