The Adoration of the Skulls
c. 1733/1734
Painter, French, 1700 - 1783

Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 52.8 x 63.6 cm (20 13/16 x 25 1/16 in.)
framed: 66.7 x 77.5 x 3.2 cm (26 1/4 x 30 1/2 x 1 1/4 in.) -
Accession
1956.3.1
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Probably Rizson.[1] Lewis Einstein [1877-1967], Paris; gift 1956 to NGA
[1] This name was written on painting's old stretcher, which was replaced during the relining in 1967. According to the original accession card for the painting, there was also on the old stretcher a "circular red wax seal with coat of arms and text." A photograph was taken of the handwriting on the stretcher, but there appears to have been none taken of the seal; the photograph and accession card are in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1967
Loan for display with permanent collection, Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, 1967-1971.
1975
The Age of Louis XV: French Painting 1710-1774, The Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio; The Art Institute of Chicago; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1975-1976, no. 23, repro.
1976
Loan for display with permanent collection, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1976.
Bibliography
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 53, as French School.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 45, repro., as French School
1974
Rosenberg, Pierre. "Dandré-Bardon as a Draughtsman: A Group of Drawings at Stuttgart." Master Drawings 12, no. 2 (Summer 1974): 137-151.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 136, repro., as French School
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 338, no. 458, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 112, repro.
1987
Chol, Daniel. Michel François Dandré-Bardon ou l'apogée de la peinture en Provence au XVIIIe siècle. Aix-en-Provence, 1987: 37, no. 43, repro.
1998
Rosenberg, Pierre. "Un chef d'oeuvre de Dandré-Bardon (1700-1783) pour le Louvre." Revue du Louvres et des Musées de France 48, no. 5 (1998): 40-45, no. 2, color repro.
2009
Conisbee, Philip, et al. French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2009: no. 25, 128-132, color repro.
Inscriptions
Attached to backing board: label "ANDRE CHENUE / LAYETIER - EMBALLEUR / EXPEDITEUR / 5. RUE DE LA TERRACE - PARIS (17E) / TEL.: WAG. 03-11 & 14-43," STAMPED WITH A "3"; label with circular inked stamp, "DA DOGANA DI FIRENZE / 4 - NOV. 05," and a written number "165"; label with the same circular inked stamp adhered to fabric (probably the previous lining fabric); label "THE PANTECHNICO / BELGRAVE SQUARE" inscribed "Hon. L. Einstein / 28 / 2 / 46" and "593."
Wikidata ID
Q20177869