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Paul Drey Gallery

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The sculpture depicts two human figures, one male and one female. The male figure is standing and holding the female figure up with both hands. The female figure is positioned on top of the male, her body leaning forward towards him. The sculpture is rendered in a dark, metallic material with a glossy sheen. The detailed texture captures the anatomy of the figures and drapery wrapped around them, creating a sense of dynamic movement and interaction between the two. The figures are depicted in an intimate pose, with the male looking upwards towards the female, who is gazing down at him with her hands resting on his shoulders. The sculpture presents a lifelike representation of the human form in motion.
Aimé-Jules Dalou, The Espousal (The Passage of the Rhine), model 1890/1892, cast c. 1907, bronze, Gift of Patricia Bauman and John L. Bryant, Jr. in Honor of Douglas Lewis and in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1990.68.2

The Espousal (The Passage of the Rhine)

Aimé-Jules Dalou · model 1890/1892, cast c. 1907 · bronze ·  Accession ID  1990.68.2

The head and pale face of a bearded man with a ring of interwoven branches of thorns over his chin-length, wavy, reddish-brown hair floats against a white cloth that has been hung over a wooden rod in this vertical painting. The cloth fills the composition. At its center, the man’s head faces us and he looks down with heavy-lidded, brown eyes. His lips are parted, and his cheeks are slightly sunken and shaded with pale lilac purple under high cheekbones. Blood drips down the man’s pallid forehead from the thorns. A brown spot high on his right cheek, on our left, might be a bruise or injury. A soft brown glow surrounds the head. The white cloth is frayed along its front edge, where it rests facing us on a wooden surface along the bottom edge of the painting. The cloth is bunched a little to each side where it drapes over the wooden rod above. The white cloth is painted with tones of pale coral pink, icy blue, silvery white, and dove gray. The background behind the cloth is black.
Domenico Fetti, The Veil of Veronica, c. 1618/1622, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.7

The Veil of Veronica

Domenico Fetti · c. 1618/1622 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.7

Two scenes showing monks wearing black hoods and robes take place on this vertical panel painting. The left half is framed by a white stone arch supported on a pillar, which runs down the middle of the composition. Under the arch, a clean-shaven man sits with his body angled to our right. A book is open on his lap, and he holds up his left hand, to our right. He braces a gold-tipped long staff with his other hand, and a gold halo frames his lined face. His hood is down, and he wears a tall, brimless black cap. He sits in a room with a wood floor, wood ceiling, and a bench under an open window on the far wall. The shutters are pulled back to show a continuation of the background landscape on the right half. There, one monk holds another, who is smaller in scale, around the chest as the latter floats or stands in a white body of water. The person in the water holds a bucket limply by his side and looks at us. The water winds back to low, green hills and a pink stone building with white trim along the right edge of the painting. A church with ivory-white walls and a slate-blue roof is situated slightly farther back, and it continues to be visible through the windows. The narrow strip of white sky in the top right corner of the painting is lined along the top edge with aquamarine blue.
French 15th Century, A Miracle of Saint Benedict, c. 1480, oil on oak, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.45

A Miracle of Saint Benedict

French 15th Century · c. 1480 · oil on oak ·  Accession ID  1952.5.45

A woman sitting on a throne with a child on her lap and two angels are carved from white marble and decorated with a few areas of gold in this freestanding sculpture. All four people face us in this photograph, and they have round cheeks, square jawlines, and closed lips. Black dots are painted for pupils but without irises or other paint on their faces, they all look startled or intense. The woman wears a gold crown over a cloth that drapes over her head, shoulders, and across her lap. Her knees are apart, and pointed shoes peek out under the rippling hem of her dress. She braces the child’s torso with her left hand, to our right, and touches his upper leg with the other hand. The child’s adult-like face is framed by gold hair. He holds up one hand, though the fingers have been broken off, and holds an open book facing out propped on his leg with his other hand. Writing on the pages has been painted. Two child-like, wingless angels stand on the arms of the throne behind the woman’s shoulders and hold a cloth up behind her head. On all four people, their hair and the necklines, hems, and cuffs of their garments have been painted with gold geometric designs. The Latin text on the book reads, "CONTINET IN GERMIO CELV TERRA Q REGENTE VIRGO DEI GENETRIX MCCCXXI.”
Verona 14th Century, Madonna and Child with Two Angels, 1321, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.95

Madonna and Child with Two Angels

Verona 14th Century · 1321 · marble ·  Accession ID  1961.9.95

Nine women and girls create a procession leading to a blond, smiling infant lying in a basket being held by a man next to a riverbank that runs across this horizontal landscape painting. The tallest woman, near the center of the retinue, wears a gold, crown-like diadem, and a toga-like gown of golden yellow over a pale, slate-blue, short-sleeved dress. She stands facing our left in profile, and looks toward the baby with dark eyes under dark, arched eyebrows. Her nose is long and straight, her pink lips are closed in a faint smile, and she has a rounded chin and jawline. Her wavy, dark blond hair is braided and pulled back, and she wears a gold earring on the ear we can see. She reaches her right arm, farther from us, straight in front of her with her palm facing the ground. Three women and three girls trail behind her in a row to our right. They wear brightly colored wraps and robes in rose pink, topaz or cobalt blue, plum purple, butter yellow, or ivory white. Most look toward the baby but the girl at the back offers the woman in front of her a tiny bouquet of flowers. Two women to our left of the standing woman stoop to reach out to the basket, held by a muscular, bare-chested, bearded man. Gray, stone blocks of a wall create steps to our left and behind it, a younger, cleanshaven man, also bare-chested, and with shoulder-length, strawberry-blond hair, reaches for his marigold-orange clothing. Trees lining the far riverbank and the brilliant blue sky with steel-gray clouds are reflected in the water’s surface. Across the river to our left, beyond a ruined stone abutment, a man in a red toga, and one in yellow, look on. More people work along the opposite bank. A city built of light gray stone stretches into the deep distance beyond.
Sébastien Bourdon, The Finding of Moses, c. 1655/1660, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.65

The Finding of Moses

Sébastien Bourdon · c. 1655/1660 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1961.9.65

This painting shows a man from the waist up, standing in the corner of a room. He faces a window on the right that displays an outdoor landscape with green mountains and trees under a blue-and-white sky. The man has a pale complexion, with a large nose, prominent chin, deep-set eyes, and pink lips set in a slight frown. He has reddish-blond shoulder-length hair under a vivid red hat. He is dressed in a dark robe with green floral patterns over a red garment that is visible around his neck. The man's right hand rests on a surface next to him, and he wears two visible rings, one with a blue stone and one with a red stone. The background includes a brick-patterned wall in shades of cream and tan, a blue curtain or tapestry, and wooden ceiling beams.
Tyrolean 15th Century, Portrait of a Man, c. 1490/1500, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.71

Portrait of a Man

Tyrolean 15th Century · c. 1490/1500 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.71

Three apples and two pears sit next to a knife and a luminous, white mug on a tan, stone surface before a muted, olive-green background in this horizontal still life painting. The objects and background are painted with blended strokes, giving the painting a soft, glowing appearance. At the center of the ledge or table, the apples are dappled with candy red and pale yellow. Two golden and moss-green pears are to our left, one upright and the other lying with its stem coming toward us. The fruit is painted with white highlights from a light source to our left. The cream-white mug sits next to the apples to our right. The mug has straight sides, a low band near the top and bottom, and the handle curves out to our right. Between the apples and mug, the black handle of a knife angles to our right, off the edge of the table. Shadows are painted in brick red on the surface of the table, which extends off both sides of the canvas. There is a vertical seam in the table under the upright pear.
Jean Siméon Chardin, Still Life with a White Mug, c. 1764, oil on canvas, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.6

Still Life with a White Mug

Jean Siméon Chardin · c. 1764 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.9.6

A young woman sitting with a nude infant lying in her lap is flanked on either side by an older woman to our left and an elderly man with a nude young boy to our right in this vertical painting. They all have pale skin tinged with blue. At the center, the young woman, Mary, is draped in a cobalt-blue mantle that partially covers her head and falls to her shoulders to wrap around a dusky rose-pink gown. The mantle is pushed back from one side of her head, revealing dark brown hair. Her right arm embraces the shoulders of the old woman standing next to her, to our left, who leans toward Mary. A tangerine-orange cloak wraps around the older woman and her hair is covered by a white cowl. Both women have long faces and noses with deep set eyes under thick arched brows, and they gaze down at the infant. The mostly bald, pudgy baby lies across a white piece of fabric, two corners of which are held up by the older woman. Another young boy stands alongside Mary to our right. He faces us, holding a basket or glass bowl containing oval-shaped caramel-brown objects the size of figs in one hand. His elongated head is crowned with tawny brown hair, and his face turns away from the infant to gaze off to our right. One finger of his left hand, on our right, rests alongside his rose-red lips. The elderly man stands behind him, leaning over Mary’s shoulder to look at the older woman. We see him from the waist up with a golden-yellow cloak layered over an olive-green vest, and the arm we see is clad in a white sleeve. The group takes up most of the height of the composition and are crowded together against an azure-blue sky swirling with thin gray and white clouds. The scene is painted largely with long strokes of saturated color. The dark gray ground below is painted with sketchy strokes of white, blue, and pink.
El Greco, The Holy Family with Saint Anne and the Infant John the Baptist, c. 1595/1600, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1959.9.4

The Holy Family with Saint Anne and the Infant John the Baptist

El Greco · c. 1595/1600 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1959.9.4

The image is a landscape drawing from an elevated perspective. The scene depicts hills, a building on a hill with trees around it, two figures, a dog, and oxen near a circular trough. Fine brushstrokes detail the foliage and texture of the landscape. The color palette is monochromatic, using shades of brown and sepia. A large tree on the left frames the image, leading the eye towards the hills and the sky.
Paul Bril, Classical Landscape with a Fountain, pen and brown ink with brown and gray wash over black chalk, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1971.80.1

Classical Landscape with a Fountain

Paul Bril · · pen and brown ink with brown and gray wash over black chalk ·  Accession ID  1971.80.1

Guercino, Seated Nude Boy Seen from the Back, pen and black ink and black chalk on brown laid paper, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1973.30.1

Seated Nude Boy Seen from the Back

Guercino · · pen and black ink and black chalk on brown laid paper ·  Accession ID  1973.30.1