Provenance

Samuel H. Kress Foundation

est. 1929

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Shown from the knees up, a woman with smooth, pale skin and rosy cheeks wears a satin gown and densely pleated, wide collar in this vertical portrait painting. She stands with her body angled to our left but turns to look at us from the corners of her luminous brown eyes. She has curved, black brows, a straight nose, and her strawberry-red, bow-shaped lips turn up in a slight smile. Her honey-brown hair is tightly curled under an elaborate pearl, gold, and feather headdress in the shape of a bouquet of flowers. The pearl earring in the ear we can see rests against the lace-edged ruff, which presses up against the back of her head and extends to the width of her shoulders. She wears a long-sleeved, champagne-white satin gown trimmed with gold and jewels. A white satin cloak with amber-gold lining falls open from the elbow of each sleeve. The cuffs are edged with layers of narrow lace, and she holds a mostly closed fan in her right hand, farther from us. Both arms hang by her sides. Behind her head and shoulders, cranberry-red drapery billows down from above over forest-green marble columns. Light shines from our left, illuminating a brown pillar and mantel behind the woman, along the left side of the canvas.
Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Marchesa Brigida Spinola Doria, 1606, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.60

Marchesa Brigida Spinola Doria

Sir Peter Paul Rubens · 1606 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1961.9.60

A woman carved from cream-white marble stands holding an open book to which she points in this free-standing sculpture. In this photograph, her body faces us but her head turns to our right. She has a long nose, small mouth, and rounded chin. Her wavy, upswept hair is topped by a semi-circular headdress. Her voluminous gown clings to her torso, leaving one breast exposed. The fabric falls in deep folds around her legs and sandalled feet. Her left shoulder, on our right, is bare. A band crosses her chest from that shoulder to her waist. She holds the tall book in her right hand, on our left, braced against that hip. Her other hand points to the words inscribed in Latin on its pages. It reads, “CALLIOPE REGI NA,HOMINVM, DIVVMQVE VO LVPTAS CARMINIS HE ROI NVMERIS FVLGENTIA SIGNIS AGMINA, BEL LANTVMQVE ANIMOS, ET P RAELIA CAN TO, INCLYTAQVE AETERNAE COMMI TO. NOMINA FAMAE.” She stands on a square base supported on a fawn-brown, veined marble plinth. The background behind her is nickel gray.
Augustin Pajou, Calliope, c. 1763, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.107

Calliope

Augustin Pajou · c. 1763 · marble ·  Accession ID  1952.5.107

About a dozen women, babies, and men gather in small groups across interior spaces with a bedroom to one side and a covered space to the other in this vertical panel painting. The women have nearly white-colored skin, and the men and children have pale skin, sometimes tinged with gray. The bed spans the left two-thirds of the composition. A woman lies under a vibrant red coverlet and white sheets pulled up to her chest. A white veil covers her head, forehead, and neck, and she wears a white, long-sleeved gown. Her shoulders rest up on pillows, and her head is surrounded by a shiny gold halo. A pale face by the woman’s feet looks through an opening at the base of the bed. Two women on the far side of the bed wear green or blue dresses and white head coverings. They both attend to a swaddled blond baby, who also has a gold halo. The wall behind the bed is patterned with an intricate geometric design in grass green and brown. The space above the bed is shiny gold punched with a leafy pattern. The wall is capped with an entablature held up with corbels. A balcony space rises to the left, and a structure with arched openings is to our right. A deep bench runs parallel to the bed along the bottom edge of the painting, closer to us. A balding man with a gray beard sits there and writes, brows deeply furrowed, on a scroll braced on one knee. If complete, writing on the scroll would read “NOMEN EST IOHANNES.” He wears a blue robe under a pale pink cloak, and he has a halo. A man standing just to our right of the seated man gestures toward the first with both hands. This second man has a brown beard and long hair and wears a marigold orange cloak over red robes. A bearded man with gray hair standing behind him wears leaf green and looks to our right. Four men and a haloed baby crowd in the covered space to our right. The man wearing green is shown again, now holding the nude baby. The man with brown hair now wears white vestments and cuts foreskin of the baby’s penis. Two other two men look on, and a sliver of an orange cap indicates that a fifth person is at the back of the crowd. The covered space is ivory-white and has a balcony above the taller, lower level. The whole panel is edged by gold patterned with a clover-like design.
Giovanni Baronzio, The Birth, Naming, and Circumcision of Saint John the Baptist, c. 1335, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.68

The Birth, Naming, and Circumcision of Saint John the Baptist

Giovanni Baronzio · c. 1335 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.68

The sculpture is a round medallion featuring the profile of a woman identified as ELEONORA DE’ ALVITTI by the engraved text around the edge. The woman is depicted in side profile, showing her detailed curly hair and garments, with a necklace visible around her neck. The sculpture appears to be made of a dark bronze material. The medallion is small, reminiscent of a coin, suggesting it might have been designed to be handheld or worn, indicated by a small hole at the top.
Anonymous Artist, Leonora Altoviti, c. 1487, bronze//Late cast, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1957.14.858

Leonora Altoviti

Anonymous Artist · c. 1487 · bronze//Late cast ·  Accession ID  1957.14.858

The sculpture is a medallion featuring the profile of a woman. Her face and upper torso are depicted in a smooth, painted style, and she is shown with long, flowing golden hair, contrasting sharply against a vivid blue background. The material of the medallion appears to be a gold or gold-like metal, with a textured surface that forms an intricate pattern around the central portrait. The surrounding design consists of raised, geometric shapes reminiscent of floral motifs. The medallion is relatively small and is set against a dark, textured backdrop.
North Italian 14th Century, Costume Ornament with Profile Portrait, c. 1380/1400, repoussé silver, gilded, and translucent enamel, attached to a strip of velvet, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.190

Costume Ornament with Profile Portrait

North Italian 14th Century · c. 1380/1400 · repoussé silver, gilded, and translucent enamel, attached to a strip of velvet ·  Accession ID  1961.9.190

A balding, bare-chested man with a long white beard kneels on a dirt ground to our right in front of a rocky cave opening in this vertical painting. The man holds a rock in one hand and looks up at a man hanging on a cross to the left. The kneeling man, Saint Jerome, has peach-colored skin and a fringe of gray hair. He has a rounded nose, deep-set eyes, a prominent brow, hollow cheekbones, and his lips are parted to reveal two teeth. His body is angled to our left, and he looks up in that direction with blue eyes. His sleeveless, long, powder-blue garment is taken off one shoulder to reveal his chest, and one bare foot sticks out under the hem of the robe behind him. A lion lies under the cave opening, which towers over Saint Jerome and continues off the top edge of the painting. The crucifix is opposite Saint Jerome. The haloed, mostly nude man hanging on the cross is about half the size of Saint Jerome, and has pale skin, brown hair, and a white loincloth across his hips. The wooden cross is braced by rocks. A black snake emerges from a crevice near the base of the cross and appears to head for Saint Jerome. A vivid blue river is glimpsed just beyond this rocky bit of land. Trees and a hill on the far side frame a deep, grassy expanse that leads back to a walled town and pale blue mountains along the horizon. A few white clouds skim across a pale blue sky in the top left quadrant of the painting. The artist signed the work as if he had written his name on a scroll of paper propped up in front of Saint Jerome’s knee, in the bottom right corner of the painting: “Joannis b pt C.”
Cima da Conegliano, Saint Jerome in the Wilderness, c. 1500/1505, oil on panel transferred to canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.168

Saint Jerome in the Wilderness

Cima da Conegliano · c. 1500/1505 · oil on panel transferred to canvas ·  Accession ID  1939.1.168

Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, Kneeling Angel, 1470/1480, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.320

Kneeling Angel

Giovanni Antonio Amadeo · 1470/1480 · marble ·  Accession ID  1939.1.320

Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned woman wearing an off-the-shoulder, black gown stands in front of a maroon-red wall in this vertical portrait painting. Her body is angled to our left, but she turns her round face to us. Her dark gray eyes seem out of focus, looking slightly off to either side of us, under faint brows. Her nose is straight, her pink lips closed over a pillowy chin, and her cheeks are lightly blushed. Her black hair is parted down the middle and smoothed to each side, pulled back and framed by a garland of flowers that drapes from the crown of her head down to either side of her chin like parentheses. The garland is made of peach-colored roses, burgundy-red flowers, and sage-green leaves. Her sloping shoulders are pale and smooth. The sleeves of the black dress wrapping around her upper arms are edged with a wide band of lace. The edge of a white undergarment is visible along the top of the black dress, which has a tightly fitting bodice. The skirt billows out at the narrow waist to fall in thick, heavy folds off the bottom edge of the painting. A large, oval, red jewel is set into a silvery-gold brooch at the front center of her neckline. Dimples are visible across the backs of both pudgy hands. With her right hand, on our left, she holds the end of a long strand of pearls encircling her neck. On that wrist is a gold bracelet with coin-like disks hanging from thick, gold links, and she wears a gold ring with a pearl and blue and red jewels on that ring finger. Her other arm hangs by her side. There, she wears two bracelets, one of gold and pearl, the other with a medallion of celestial blue enamel surrounding a pearl, also set in gold. Two gold rings with red stones are on the third finger of that hand, and a silver ring with a crest is on her pinky finger. With that hand she holds a closed fan with silver and gold sticks, and the end of a sheer black shawl that wraps up across her back and over the other shoulder. The top two-thirds of the wall behind her is covered by a pattern of stylized wine-red flowers against a muted maroon-red background. A wooden rail divides the top section of the wall from the gray paneling below. A few objects in the lower left corner, seen beyond the edge of her skirt, are difficult to make out, but could include a richly decorated gold and upholstered chair, a glove, and a white, lace-edged handkerchief. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left corner of the red patterned wall: “I.A.D. INGRES P.XIT ANO 1851.” The woman’s name appears in the upper right, “M.E INES MOITESSIER NÉE DE FOUCAULD.”
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Madame Moitessier, 1851, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1946.7.18

Madame Moitessier

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres · 1851 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1946.7.18

The sculpture is circular and resembles a medallion or relief. It features a seated figure of a warrior or deity in a commanding pose. The subject is adorned in classical armor with intricate detailing showing a mix of muscular and fabric textures. The warrior holds a shield with elaborate designs and is surrounded by ornate elements, including a helmet and spears. The entire piece is crafted from a material with a gold appearance, giving it a metallic sheen. The sculpture's circular form and small holes suggest it may have been a decorative attachment.
Moderno, Mars Surrounded by Trophies, late 15th - early 16th century, gilded bronze//Medium brown patina, parcel gilding and highly chased, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1957.14.309

Mars Surrounded by Trophies

Moderno · late 15th - early 16th century · gilded bronze//Medium brown patina, parcel gilding and highly chased ·  Accession ID  1957.14.309

This painting depicts a man seated on an ornate chair, looking to the right. He has fair skin, grey curly hair, and is wearing a brown coat with gold trim and gray fur over a frilly white shirt. He is holding a large book open with his left hand, and his right hand rests on a stack of books. In the background, there is a blue drapery that partially obscures shelves with scientific equipment and glass jars. There is a dark gray column on the left.
Jean-Marc Nattier, Joseph Bonnier de la Mosson, 1745, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.30

Joseph Bonnier de la Mosson

Jean-Marc Nattier · 1745 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1961.9.30

Bibliography

1994

  • A Gift to America: Masterpieces of European Painting from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. Exh. cat. The North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Seattle Art Museum; The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1994, 12-41.