Bachstitz Gallery

est. 1921

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Separated by a vertical, column-like partition, a woman to our right kneels opposite a winged angel to our left, who also kneels and holds the stem of a long white lily propped against one shoulder in this horizontal painting. The upper corners are curved, suggesting the panel was set in an arched frame. Both people have pale, peachy skin with a yellow cast, delicate facial features, and starburst-like gold halos hovering over blond, curly hair. To our left, the angel faces our right in profile, one hand held to the chest as the other, resting on the raised knee, holds the stem of the lily. The angel wears a voluminous, lavender-purple robe tied in pleats at the waist with a gold cord. The neckline is marigold orange, and the cuffs and hem are edged with gold. The wings emerging from the shoulder blades are made of rounded, gold and blue feathers like the eyes of peacock feathers. A white dove hovers above the angel’s head and gold rays extend toward the woman, to our right. The woman kneels, facing our left in profile, her head bowed. A gauzy white head covering is tied around her hair. She holds the sides of her deep blue robe at her chest, over a coral-red dress. The hem of the blue robe is edged with gold lettering resembling writing. She clutches a small, thick book with a teal-blue cover and gold edges in one hand at her chest. The angel and woman are separated by a slate-gray, column or partition, and the room behind each person is slightly different. The angel is set in a room with stone-gray walls with a doorway on the back wall, and rectangular openings on the wall to our left. The salmon-pink floor spans both rooms, but is banded with gray along the bottom edge of the painting to our right. The woman is in a room with a bench and shelves holding a thick book and a pink flower in a glass vase. A darkened doorway opens, presumably into another room, opposite us. A curtain hangs down along the partition in front of the angel, perhaps indicating that a window separates them. The rays emanating from the dove also disappear behind the partition to reemerge on the other side, suggesting a window.
Fra Filippo Lippi, The Annunciation, c. 1435/1440, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1943.4.35

The Annunciation

Fra Filippo Lippi · c. 1435/1440 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1943.4.35

The lifeless body of a bearded young man partly wrapped in an ivory cloth is being lowered from a cross to a group of people at its foot in this vertical painting. All the people have peachy or pale skin, and most are dressed in cream white and shades of brown. The body and head of the dead man, Jesus, slump to our left, eyes closed and mouth hanging open. His arms and hands are streaked with red, and drips of blood dot his head. Two men on ladders propped against the back of the cross reach over the top crossbar, and one man on our right holds Jesus’s left wrist. A long white cloth is draped over the crossbar and falls to wrap around Jesus’s hips. Two more men stand on the ladders on either side of the cross, one with his arm around Jesus’s torso while the other reaches forward to hold a torch that dramatically lights the cluster of bodies. An older man with white hair and beard, wearing a scarlet-red tunic, stands in front and cradles the hips and legs of Jesus as he is lowered. Six people stand to the right of the old man and the cross. A strong light falls on the face of a pale, older woman. Her eyes are closed, her mouth open, and her arms limp as she is caught by the people around her. The men in the group wear hats and the women’s heads are covered with scarves. From the shadows to the left of the cross, near the edge of the painting, the pale face of a woman peers onto the scene. The landscape behind the cross and group is deep in shadow, but rust-red streaks line the horizon in the distance.
Dutch 17th Century, Constantijn van Renesse, The Descent from the Cross, 1650/1652, oil on canvas, Widener Collection, 1942.9.61

The Descent from the Cross

Dutch 17th Century, Constantijn van Renesse · 1650/1652 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.9.61

Spanish 16th Century, Reliquary Cross, 1550/1575, with late 19th century alterations, enameled gold, rock crystal, diamonds, emerald, rubies, glass pearls, Widener Collection, 1942.9.295

Reliquary Cross

Spanish 16th Century · 1550/1575, with late 19th century alterations · enameled gold, rock crystal, diamonds, emerald, rubies, glass pearls ·  Accession ID  1942.9.295

Shown from the knees up, a seated woman is surrounded by an arch of disembodied, winged baby heads as she gazes down at an infant lying across her lap in this vertical painting. They all have pale, peachy skin, and are placed against a honey-gold background. The floating heads are all angled inward to face the woman. The woman sits on straw-yellow clouds that billow up from the lower right corner, and more clouds fill the upper corners around the floating heads. The woman and baby take up most of the canvas. The woman’s knees are angled to our left but her upper body turns to us. Her hands are together, fingertips touching and coming toward us. Her chestnut-brown hair is pulled back and gathered at the back of her head, and is covered by a translucent white veil that falls to her shoulders. Her shoulders and upper arms are wrapped in an ivory-white shawl over a fawn-brown dress with rose-pink sleeves. Pale yellow stars create a ring around her head, which tilts down as she gazes toward the child with large brown eyes. The plump baby lies on his back, with his head resting on the woman’s right leg, farther from us. He has short, brown hair with dark eyes looking straight up. The white cloth on which he lies wraps around his midsection and upper thighs. One hand rests on his belly and the other by his side, and his chubby knees are bent over the woman’s leg.
Jacopo Tintoretto, Italian 16th Century, The Madonna of the Stars, c. 1575/1585, oil on canvas, Ralph and Mary Booth Collection, 1947.6.6

The Madonna of the Stars

Jacopo Tintoretto, Italian 16th Century · c. 1575/1585 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1947.6.6

Freiburg-im-Breisgau 16th Century, Augsburg 16th Century, Covered Cup with Shield of Arms of the Countess of Gleichen, c. 1566 (crystal); 1566 (mounts), rock crystal and enameled gold, Widener Collection, 1942.9.296

Covered Cup with Shield of Arms of the Countess of Gleichen

Freiburg-im-Breisgau 16th Century, Augsburg 16th Century · c. 1566 (crystal); 1566 (mounts) · rock crystal and enameled gold ·  Accession ID  1942.9.296

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Vessel Engraved with Hunting Scenes

Milanese 16th Century, Viennese 19th Century · c. 1570 (foot); 1850/1900 (body) · rock crystal and enameled gold ·  Accession ID  1942.9.299

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Scene from Ancient History, c. 1750, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.365

Scene from Ancient History

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo · c. 1750 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1939.1.365

A woman with pale white skin and her blond hair covered by a wide veil is shown from the waist up in this vertical portrait painting. Her folded hands rest on the lower edge of the panel, suggesting that she sits just on the other side, close to us. The transparent white veil covers her blond hair and falls in stiff, wide panes down in front of her shoulders. Her hair is pulled back behind a black ribbon over a high forehead. Her light brown eyes are downcast and she has a straight nose and full, pale pink lips. Her chest is covered by another veil and is tucked into the deep V-neck of her long-sleeved, black dress. A wide scarlet-red belt adorned with an ornately filigreed gold belt buckle encircles her narrow waist. Her skin, white veils, and red belt contrast sharply with her velvety black dress and the dark pine green of the background.
Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of a Lady, c. 1460, oil on panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.44

Portrait of a Lady

Rogier van der Weyden · c. 1460 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1937.1.44

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Vessel in the Form of a Dragon

Milanese 17th Century, Parisian 19th Century · early 17th century (body); late 19th century (foot, head, mounts) · rock crystal, enameled gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds ·  Accession ID  1942.9.298

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Cylindrical Vessel

Viennese 19th Century · 1850/1900 · rock crystal and enameled gold ·  Accession ID  1942.9.300