Andrea di Vanni

Vanni, Andrea
Andrea di Vanni d'Andrea

Sienese, c. 1330 - 1413

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On a ledge-like rocky outcropping, a man kneels and looks up at an angel while, below and closer to us, three people sit or lie near the same man, who is shown twice in this vertical painting. The people have light skin with a greenish cast, though their cheeks are flushed, and they have flat, gold halos around their heads. In both appearances, Jesus has long, wavy, amber-blond hair, a beard, and a long straight nose. He wears a lapis-blue robe under a rose-pink cloak, which are edged in gold. Closest to us, he stands near the lower left corner of the composition, facing our right almost in profile. He holds one hand to his chest and with the other, clasps the hand of a man kneeling in front of him. That man, Saint Peter, wears a sky-blue robe and a canary-yellow cloak, and he has a gray beard and hair. His brows are lowered and furrowed as he reaches for and looks up at Jesus. Between Jesus and Saint Peter, a cleanshaven young man, also with blond hair, sleeps sitting up with his head propped on one hand. He wears a sage-green robe under a sky-blue cloak. Another man lies on his stomach beyond the others, so his head, resting on his folded arms, nearly reaches the right edge of the panel. He wears the same blue and pink of Jesus, and also has blond hair. Beyond this trio, a garden separates the four men close to us from the kneeling Jesus above. The garden has a hedge of pale pink roses, two small trees with red flowers, and rows of vegetation painted with pine green. That second, kneeling Jesus folds his arms across his chest, and his face and neck are dotted with touches of scarlet red. He looks up at a miniature winged angel, whose robe and wings are marigold orange. The angel holds out a golden chalice, which blends into the shiny gold background behind the people. Beyond the mount with the kneeling Jesus, a steep, narrow, charcoal-gray hill rises in the distance, to our left. About a dozen soldiers carrying lances and shields, on horseback and on foot, ride or walk from a fortified castle. A man with a dark halo, wearing a red robe and gray cloak, walks near the front of the line. The panel comes to a pointed arch at the top, and the corners are filled with raised vines and flowers, also painted gold.
Andrea di Vanni, Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Agony in the Garden [left panel], 1380s, tempera on panel, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.79.711.a

Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Agony in the Garden [left panel]

Andrea di Vanni · 1380s · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  2014.79.711.a

A square panel flanked by two tall, rectangular panels all have gold frames and shimmering gold backgrounds behind groups of people, all of whom have light skin. On the square, central panel, three men hang on wooden crosses above people crowded below. The crucified men wear only white cloths across their hips and their skin has a green cast. A halo encircles the bent head of the man on the middle cross, Jesus, who wears a ring of thorns in his long, red hair. Blood trickles down his forehead and drips from nails driven through his hands and overlapped feet, and from a gash over his right ribs, to our left. Four miniature, winged angels are painted entirely in tones of dark, cobalt blue, and they fly in pairs on either side of his body. A panel at the top of the cross reads “INRI” in gold letters against a red field. The other two crosses are spaced evenly to either side. The men are tied with their elbows hooked unnaturally back over the crossbeams, and wounds on their broken shins pour blood. The man to our left tilts his head up as one small, golden angel touches the back of his head and the other lifts a miniature version of the man from his parted lips. To our right, the man’s eyes roll back and his mouth gapes open as two black, winged creatures like dragons fly overhead. In the bottom left corner, a group of four women cluster around a recumbent woman with long blond hair wearing a blue cloak. In the right corner, a group of three men tug at a blue tunic, as they draw straws from one man’s fist. Other men and women, a few with gold halos, cluster at the foot of the crosses, wearing robes and armor in shades of buttercup yellow, coral and brick red, light and lapis blue, and brown. The left tall, rectangular panel shows a haloed man, Jesus again, kneeling on a flat rock above a stylized garden. Hands crossed over his chest, he looks up in profile facing our left at a small angel with a red gown and wings offering a chalice. Closer to us, Jesus appears for a second time in this panel, greeting a bearded man wearing blue and golden yellow as two others sleep behind them. All four have halos. On a hill beyond the garden, to our left, a group of men holding long spears and tall shields chase a man with a black halo. In the right panel, Jesus strides from under an archway across a wooden door that lies flat along the ground as it pins and crushes a black beast. Jesus wears a bright, gold-patterned cloth draped over one shoulder and around his body. He holds a tall pole with a flag with a red cross on a white field with his left hand. His other clasps hands with an elderly man with gray hair and long white beard. Behind the elder man, a crowd of men and women kneel in front of the opening of a craggy cave. One man holds a scroll with black letters that reads, “ECCE ANGIUS.” Another bearded man floats above holding a scroll that reads, “DESTRUXIT QUIDAM MORTES INFERNI ET SUBVERTIT POTENTIAS DIABOLI.” Gold frames around all three panels, which are attached with hinges, have an inset band of lapis blue with a scrolling, leafy design in gold. Above each scene, architectural arches and tracery is created in low relief in gold against the gold-leaf background. In the lower center of central panel, in the blue band, the work is signed, “ANDREAS UANNIS DE SENIS ME PINXIT.”
Andrea di Vanni, Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Agony in the Garden, the Crucifixion, and the Descent into Limbo [entire triptych], 1380s, tempera on panel, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.79.711.a-c

Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Agony in the Garden, the Crucifixion, and the Descent into Limbo [entire triptych]

Andrea di Vanni · 1380s · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  2014.79.711.a-c

Three men hang on wooden crosses above people crowded below in this square panel painting. The crucified men wear only white cloths across their hips, and their pale skin has a noticably green cast. A halo encircles the bent head of the man on the middle cross, Jesus, who wears a ring of thorns in his long, red hair. Blood trickles down his forehead and drips from nails driven through his hands and overlapped feet, and from a gash over his right ribs, to our left. Four miniature, winged angels are painted entirely in tones of dark cobalt blue fly in pairs on either side of his body. An inscription over the top of the cross reads “INRI” in gold letters against a red field. The other two crosses are spaced evenly to either side. The men are tied with their elbows hooked unnaturally back over the crossbeams and wounds on their broken shins pour blood. The man to our left tilts his head up as one small, golden angel touches the back of his head and the other lifts a miniature version of the man from his parted lips. To our right, the man’s eyes roll back and his mouth gapes open as two black, winged creatures like dragons fly overhead. In the bottom left corner, a group of four women comfort a recumbent woman with long blond hair wearing a blue cloak. In the right corner, a group of three men tug at a blue tunic, as they draw straws from one man’s fist. Other men and women, a few with gold halos, cluster at the feet of the crosses, wearing robes and armor in shades of buttercup yellow, coral and brick red, light and lapis blue, and brown. The panel is in a gold frame inset with a band of lapis blue with a scrolling, leafy design in gold.
Andrea di Vanni, Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Crucifixion [middle panel], 1380s, tempera on panel, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.79.711.b

Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Crucifixion [middle panel]

Andrea di Vanni · 1380s · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  2014.79.711.b

A bearded man, Jesus, strides from under an archway across a wooden door that lies flat along the ground as it pins and crushes a black beast in this vertical, framed panel. A crowd of people huddle inside the rocky cave, and everyone has pale skin faintly tinged with green. Jesus wears a bright, gold-patterned cloth draped over one shoulder and around his body. He holds a tall pole with a flag with a red cross on a white field with his left hand. His other clasps hands with an elderly man with gray hair and long white beard. Behind the elder man, a crowd of men and women kneel in front of the opening of a craggy cave. One man holds a scroll with black letters that reads, “ECCE ANGIUS.” Another bearded man floats above holding a scroll that reads, “DESTRUXIT QUIDAM MORTES INFERNI ET SUBVERTIT POTENTIAS DIABOLI.” Above the scene, an architectural arch and tracery is created in low relief in gold against the gold-leaf background. The gold frame has inset bands of lapis blue with scrolling, leafy designs in gold above and below the central scene.
Andrea di Vanni, Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Descent into Limbo [right panel], 1380s, tempera on panel, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.79.711.c

Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Descent into Limbo [right panel]

Andrea di Vanni · 1380s · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  2014.79.711.c

Bibliography

1854

  • Milanesi, Gaetano. Documenti per la storia dell’arte senese. 3 vols. Siena, 1854–1856: 1(1854): 294–307.

1903

  • Perkins, F. Mason. “Andrea Vanni.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 2, no. 6 (1903): 309–325.

1907

  • De Nicola, G. “Andrea di Vanni d’Andrea.” In Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Edited by Ulrich Thieme, Felix Becker and Hans Vollmer. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907–1950: 1(1907):464-465.

1920

  • Marle, Raimond van. Simone Martini et les peintres de son école. Strasbourg, 1920: 124-134.

1943

  • Pope-Hennessy, John. “A Madonna by Andrea Vanni.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 83, no. 484 (1943): 174-177.

1960

  • Francisci Osti, Ornella. “Andrea Vanni.” In Dizionario biografico degli italiani. Edited by Alberto Maria Ghisalberti. 82+ vols. Rome, 1960+: 3(1961): 122-124.

1966

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 57.

1969

  • Bologna, Ferdinando. I pittori alla corte angioina di Napoli, 1266–1414, e un riesame dell’arte nell’età fridericiana. Rome, 1969: 4, 7-8, 11, 325-326, 330.

1976

  • Romagnoli, Ettore. Biografia cronologica de’ bellartisti senesi, 1200–1800. 13 vols. Florence, 1976: 3:19.

1978

  • Brown, David Alan. “Andrea Vanni in the Corcoran Gallery.” In The William A. Corcoran Collection: An Exhibition Marking the 50th Anniversary of the Installation of the Clark Collection at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, DC, 1978: 32–37.

  • Wainwright, Valerie Linda. "Andrea Vanni and Bartolo di Fredi: Sienese Painters in their Social Context." Ph.D. dissertation. University of London, University College, 1978: 114-157.

1981

  • Carli, Enzo. La pittura senese del Trecento. Milan, 1981: 237, 246–248, 265.

1982

  • Cornice, Alberto. “Andrea Vanni.” In Il gotico a Siena: miniature, pitture, oreficerie, ed oggetti d’arte. Exh. cat. Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Florence, 1982: 286-289.

1996

  • Wainwright, Valerie. “Andrea (di) Vanni (d’Andrea Salvani).” In The Dictionary of Art. Edited by Jane Turner. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 2:21.