Contessa Giustiniani

Italian

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An older woman and man stand behind a young girl who climbs up the steps of a structure, in which a bearded man stands with his hands outstretched, while a group of six people gather to our right, all against a shimmering gold background in this vertical painting. All the people have light skin with long noses, dark eyes, and their garments are edged with gold. The young girl, Mary, walks to our right but looks back over her shoulder to our left. She has reddish-blond hair pulled back under a scarlet-red headband, hazel-green eyes, and her rosebud lips are closed. Her rose-pink, long-sleeved dress falls to her feet and is covered with a stylized, gold, floral pattern. She holds a book with a red cover in one hand and holds up the hem of her dress with the other. She and the two older people behind her have flat, gold halos incised with geometric patterns surrounding their heads. The older couple behind her, in the lower left corner of the composition, face our right in profile. The older woman stands closer to us, wearing a white veil that covers her head, neck, and shoulders. With one hand she holds the sides of her aquamarine-blue cloak closed over her pine-green dress, and she holds her right hand up near her shoulder with the palm facing Mary. The man behind her has a gray beard and wavy hair, and he wears a dusky rose-pink cloak over a long-sleeved, blue garment. He raises his right hand near Mary’s elbow. The arched, domed structure at the top of the stairs, in the right half of the painting, has ivory-white walls, and the ceiling is blue with gold stars. Mary approaches a man standing in the structure with his arms held out and hands open. He has shoulder-length, curly gray hair and a long beard, and wears a tall, pointed cap above a gold crown. His red cloak falls open over a long white robe that ends just shy of the golden-yellow garment beneath, which falls to his feet. Tucked into the corner behind him and to our right, four young girls or women with blond hair tucked under headbands stand in a close group, wearing dresses of butter yellow, crimson red, or rose pink. The girl closest to us crosses her arms over her chest and looks to our right, but the others look toward the man in the structure. They stand next to a rectangular altar holding a tall, gold vessel. The two bearded men in the lower right corner of the painting look toward each other and point in opposite directions, one wearing a lilac-purple cloak over a red robe and the other a forest-green cloak over a pale blue robe. In the background, the red layer beneath the gold leaf shows through in some areas.
Andrea di Bartolo, The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, c. 1400/1405, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.41

The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple

Andrea di Bartolo · c. 1400/1405 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.41

Beneath two tall, tower-like structures, thirteen men, women, and children gather to give or receive food and foodstuff, all against a shiny gold background in this vertical painting. All the people have light skin tinged with green. To the left of center and under the left structure, an older, bearded man and woman have flat, round halos punched with rings of tiny circles. The man, Joachim, stands with his body angled to our left as he looks down to a group of five people gathered along the left edge of the painting. Joachim has shoulder-length, curly, gray hair and a long, wavy beard. His brow is furrowed and his lips closed. He wears a gold-trimmed, royal-blue, ankle-length robe and gray, pointed shoes. The handle of a basket holding bread rolls is hooked over one forearm, and he holds a roll out to the group with the other. In the group to our left, two people stand at the back while a man and a woman stoop over walking sticks, and the fifth person kneels as he holds a hand up toward Joachim. The kneeling person braces his other hand on a low crutch by his knee. The people here wear tattered and patched robes in fawn brown, moss green, ruby red, or tan. Just beyond Joachim’s shoulder, the woman with the halo, Anna, stands with her body angled in the opposite direction, to our right. She wears an ivory-white head covering that also wraps across her neck and shoulders, and an emerald-green, long-sleeved dress. She holds a rectangular object with a spout, presumably a vessel, in front of her body as she looks toward the group gathered to our right. Just across from her, under the right-hand structure, a bearded man with long, gray hair stands wearing a crimson-red, gold-edged cloak over a long white robe. He also wears a conical, pointed white headpiece with a gold crown around its base. The man holds out one hand to the three boys gathered between him and Anna. The boys wear togas in rose pink or marigold orange, and they hold two tall, white sacks. Also under the right-hand tower and along the right edge of the composition, two more bearded men stand close together, gesturing toward each other as if in conversation. Each structure has a back wall leading up to a box-like second story, which is supported at the front with thin columns. The left structure has a dark, arched opening behind Joachim and Anna, a pumpkin-orange ceiling underneath the second story, and arched openings on that second level. The structure to our right has arched openings supporting a vaulted ceiling, painted with gold stars on a navy-blue background. A narrow, crenelated, slate-gray wall connects the two structures. Areas of red, especially around cracks, show through the shimmering gold background above and around the structures.
Andrea di Bartolo, Joachim and Anna Giving Food to the Poor and Offerings to the Temple, c. 1400/1405, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.43

Joachim and Anna Giving Food to the Poor and Offerings to the Temple

Andrea di Bartolo · c. 1400/1405 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.43

A man is nailed to a wooden cross, and two people sit, one to each side, on the sand-colored ground with their bodies angled inward, all against a gold background in this horizontal painting. All the people have pale skin with a greenish cast, and gold halos. The crossbar of the T-shaped cross nearly touches the top edge of the composition. On the cross, Jesus’s body and head are angled to our left. His head tips down, and his eyes are dark slits. Scarlet-red blood streams down his arms from nails in each hand and spurts from a gash over his right ribs. Blood pours from the nail pinning both feet to a shallow ledge down to the ground below. His wavy, honey-blond hair falls over his shoulders, and he has a full, forked beard. Touches of red indicate blood at the points of a ring of thorns around his head. He is nude except for a white loincloth lined with gold down the front around his hips. His body is thin, his ribs visible. The ground around the cross is painted a flat, brown color, which rises in a low mound behind the base of the cross, and up to each side to indicate hills. To our left, a woman sits with one leg folded under her, her other knee raised by her intertwined hands. She looks up at Jesus, her mouth parted and lined with wrinkles. Her brows are gathered over brown eyes. Her face is framed by a white veil, and the powder-blue hood and robe she wears over it is edged with gold. The underside is canary yellow where it turns back across her lap and down the sides of her face. Her raspberry-pink dress underneath is also trimmed with gold at the high neckline and cuffs. She and the person to our right both have rosy cheeks. The person to our right sits with fingers intertwined around one raised knee. That person has chin-length blond hair, a short fringe of bangs across the forehead, arched brows, a long nose, and delicate pink lips are parted. A sky-blue robe is covered with a rose-pink cloak, both edged with gold. The gold background behind all the people is visibly cracked and some areas of red show through. Across the top of the panel is a band of punched dots and incised lines to create a floral pattern. The halos are created with concentric bands of dots and rings punched into the gold background.
Sano di Pietro, The Crucifixion, c. 1445/1450, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.45

The Crucifixion

Sano di Pietro · c. 1445/1450 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.45

Under an arched structure, five women gather around a baby as two men sit outside the room in this vertical painting. All the people have pale skin with a faint greenish cast. The women have blond hair and the men have gray hair. To our right, a ruby-red curtain has been drawn back along the long side of a bed, and a woman there reclines propped on one elbow, facing into the room. She wears a white veil that covers her hair, neck, and shoulders and a sky-blue robe edged with gold over a navy-blue dress. Her head is encircled with a gold halo, and she looks down toward the baby at the center of the painting. Her wrists are crossed over a gold bowl, and an attendant standing next to the bed pours water from a gold pitcher over her hands. The attendant wears a forest-green dress and a white cloth is wrapped over her head. A pair of women sitting on the floor near the bed hold the infant, who has a gold halo around short, blond hair. Wrapped in a white cloth, the baby stands on the lap of one woman, who wears a rose-pink dress and a white cloth wrapped around her hair. The second woman in this pair, to our left, wears a golden yellow robe over a scarlet-red dress, and her braided hair is wound around her head. She holds both hands up in front of the baby, who looks at her, facing our left in profile. A gold bowl with a flaring foot sits on the floor in front of this trio. Coming through a darkened doorway behind them, a fifth woman wearing a topaz-blue dress enters carrying a gold dish. To our left, the two bearded men sit with their backs to the gray, stone wall enclosing the room with the women. The man closer to us has a long gray beard, and his wavy hair is surrounded by a gold halo. He looks to our left in profile and wears a rose-pink robe edged with gold, over a light blue garment. The second man angles his body toward his neighbor and gestures with one raised finger. The second man has a trimmed, gray beard and he wears a slate-blue robe over a butter-yellow garment. The structure enclosing the scene is made up of several arched openings that do not quite fit together to create a cohesive room. The upper, outer corners of the building are missing, as if in ruin. The background above is shiny gold that has been worn away in some areas to show the red layer underneath.
Andrea di Bartolo, The Nativity of the Virgin, c. 1400/1405, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.42

The Nativity of the Virgin

Andrea di Bartolo · c. 1400/1405 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.42