Saint Agnes

1272/1298; cast c. 1897/1908

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gilded copper

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 22.1 x 6.9 x 6 cm (8 11/16 x 2 11/16 x 2 3/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.283

Media for this artwork is unavailable and the object is not on view. See artworks now on view

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Bourgeois Frères, Cologne), before 1922;[1] purchased 1922 by Joseph Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, as French, c. 1290; inheritance from the Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, after purchase by funds of the Estate, 1942.
[1] The name "Bourgeois" appears on a Widener file card in NGA curatorial files as the dealer from whom the Saint Agnes was purchased in 1922 (with reference to a letter from Wilhelm R. Valentiner, 2 May 1922, which has not been located). An early photograph of the Saint Agnes in NGA files is stamped "Bourgeois & Co., Cöln a. Rh.". The collection of a pair of Bourgeois brothers, dealers in Cologne, was sold in 1904 after both had died (Stephan in 1899, Gaspard in 1904). See Catalogue des objets d'art et de haute curiosité, composant la collection Bourgeois frères, et dont la vente aura lieu à Cologne...du...19 au...27 octobre 1904, J. M. Heberle, Cologne; the objects catalogued do not include the Saint Agnes. Perhaps a relative later sold the sculpture to Widener.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1937

  • Master Bronzes Selected from Museums and Collections in America, The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, 1937, no. 114, repro., as French (Tournai), c. 1290.

Bibliography

1935

  • Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 31.

1937

  • Master Bronzes Selected from Museums and Collections in America. Exh. cat. The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 1937: no. 114.

  • Washburn, Gordon B. "Master Bronzes at Buffalo," Magazine of Art 30 (February 1937): 94, repro.

  • Davis, Robert Tyler. "An Odyssey of Bronze Statuettes," Art News 35 (6 February 1937): 13.

1942

  • Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 9, as Flemish (Tournai) 13th Century.

1993

  • Distelberger, Rudolf, Alison Luchs, Philippe Verdier, and Timonthy H. Wilson. Western Decorative Arts, Part I: Medieval, Renaissance, and Historicizing Styles including Metalwork, Enamels, and Ceramics. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1993: 54-57, repro. 55.

1998

  • Avery, Charles, Marzia Ratti, and Angela Acordon, eds. Sculture: bronzetti, placchette, medaglie. Museo Civico Amedeo Lia, La Spezia. [Cinisello Balsamo], 1998: 48, 254, no. 174.

Wikidata ID

Q62758172

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