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Inscription

on Mary's mantle (in relief, deciphered with infrared reflectography): ENIHS*O IO*EEPRS I*MO[?]S*SIE*E OE O*EI

Provenance

Possibly commissioned for a convent or church in Valladolid, Spain.[1] Before 1919, José María de Palacio, Conde de las Almenas, Madrid;[2] sold 28 March 1919 to (Frank Partridge and Sons, Ltd., London).[3] Dr. Preston Pope Satterwhite [1867-1948], New York, by 1933;[4] possibly purchased by (French & Co., New York).[5] purchased 1941 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[6] gift 1952 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1935
Exhibition of Spanish Painting, The Brooklyn Museum, 1937, no. 7.
1937
Spanish Paintings, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1937, no cat.
1951
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951, 178, no. 78.

Technical Summary

The original support is composed of three vertically oriented pieces of pine. An addition approximately 19 cm tall, consisting of several pieces of pine with vertical grain, is attached to the bottom of the original support.[1] The irregular line of damage along the lower edge of the original support suggests that the addition may have replaced a destroyed part of the original composition. A modern cradle is attached to the composite panel. The original support is covered by a thick white ground probably composed of two layers. There appears to be a thicker, lower layer with fibrous inclusions (grass?) and a second, thinner ground layer without fibers above. The ground on the added pieces has a markedly different composition from the ground on the original support. The composition was underdrawn on the original support in a black liquid, probably applied with a brush. Broad parallel and cross-hatched strokes define the figures and primary details of the setting in the underdrawing. A downward shift in the eyes, lips, and nose of the Christ Child is the only major change between the underdrawing and the painting. The main lines of the architecture were incised in the ground layer. A thin, brown imprimatura is thought to cover the ground beneath the paint layer; the tonality of the imprimatura was used as a base for the faces of the doctors, but elsewhere is covered over with thick opaque paint. Oil paint was applied in a variety of techniques, ranging from carefully built-up opaque layers with some slightly raised brush texture to thin, translucent glazes. The painting is in stable condition, although the panel is penetrated by cracks and checks. X-radiographs indicate scattered losses of paint.

[1] The woods used for the original support and additions were analyzed by Michael Palmer, NGA scientific department.

Bibliography

1913
Mayer, August L. Geschichte der spanischen Malerei. Leipzig, 1922: 145 (also Spanish ed. Madrid, 1942: 166).
1933
Post, Chandler Rathfon. A History of Spanish Painting. 14 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1930-1966: 4, pt. 2:418-428.
1937
Clifford, Henry. "Great Spanish Painters: A Timely Show." Art News 35 (17 April, 1937): 9.
1952
Brans, J. V. L. Isabel la católica y el arte hispanoflamenco. Madrid, 1952: 130-132.
1958
Gaya Nuño, Juan Anotonio. La pintura española fuera de España; historia y catàlogo. Madrid, 1958: 274, no. 2274.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 262, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 86.
1966
Gudiol y Ricart, José. "El Pintor Diego de la Cruz." Goya. 70 (1966): 208-217.
1968
Cuttler, Charles D. Northern Painting from Pucelle to Brueghel. New York, 1968: 254.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 75, repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 224, repro.
1977
Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 177-178, 181, fig. 182.
1982
Abrams, Richard I. and Warner A. Hutchinson. An Illustrated Life of Jesus, From the National Gallery of Art Collection. Nashville, 1982: 42-43. color repro.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 142, no. 143, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 256, repro.
1988
Wheeler, Marion, ed. His Face--Images of Christ in Art, New York, 1988: 126, no. 26, color 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: 101-104, color repro. 103.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 70-71, no. 52, color repro.

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