Provenance

Art market, Paris

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A nude man stands in a sandstone-colored, hip-high basin with hands together in prayer, as ten people stand around the basin and more look on from a distance in this vertical painting. The man, Clovis, stands with his body facing us but his head tilts slightly to his left, our right. He wears a jeweled crown over his chin-length brown hair, and looks off to our right with dark eyes under dark brows. The basin sits on an ornately carved gray stone plinth. Next to the basin to our right, a man wears a cardinal-red tunic over a long-sleeved, white garment and tips a golden bowl of liquid to pour it onto Clovis’s head. His left hand, closest to us, is held up with his palm facing Clovis. He wears a jeweled gold and silver, pointed hat that splits up the sides to expose red lining, and a richly brocaded red and gold cloak with royal-blue lining. The bronze-colored medallion hanging at his chest has an image of a man’s head and torso. The cloak seems to be embroidered with two men on the lapels, one holding a sword, the other a large key in one hand and a book in the other. Another man wearing a brocaded robe holds back the sleeve of the bishop’s raised hand, while four more men wearing robes stand in a tight cluster. An older man in this group, with graying hair, holds a curling, gold staff. Five men look onto the scene from a balcony above this group, along the right edge of the panel. A row of greenish-silver organ pipes lines the balcony behind them. Next to the basin to our left, a shorter or kneeling man with his hair shaved into a ring around his head wears a white gown and holds a large, thick book to his chest. The book is bound in light brown leather with metal clasps and fittings. Behind Clovis and to our left, a woman looks on with her hair pulled back under a gold-colored veil. Two men next to her right wear fur-trimmed cloaks of rich reds and dark green, and each touches Clovis’s arm. Beyond this group surrounding the basin, more people gather in a courtyard outside the church entrance to watch the ceremony. They wear cloaks and leggings in rose pink, emerald green, light blue, or tan. At the front of the crowd, one man holds a long-handled weapon with an axe blade and spear tip. Other stone buildings are visible around the courtyard, and a peacock perches on an archway over the crowd, in the distance.
Master of Saint Giles, The Baptism of Clovis, c. 1500, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.15

The Baptism of Clovis

Master of Saint Giles · c. 1500 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.2.15

Egyptian 2nd Century, Portrait of a Woman, 2nd century, encaustic on wood, Gift of Lewis Einstein, 1956.12.1

Portrait of a Woman

Egyptian 2nd Century · 2nd century · encaustic on wood ·  Accession ID  1956.12.1

Tilman Riemenschneider, A Bishop Saint (Burchard of Würzburg?), c. 1515/1520, linden wood with traces of polychromy, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.1.1

A Bishop Saint (Burchard of Würzburg?)

Tilman Riemenschneider · c. 1515/1520 · linden wood with traces of polychromy ·  Accession ID  1961.1.1

Luca della Robbia, The Nativity, c. 1460, glazed terracotta, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.1.3

The Nativity

Luca della Robbia · c. 1460 · glazed terracotta ·  Accession ID  1961.1.3

Paul Huet, Woodland Stream, c. 1840, oil on canvas, Gift of Frank Anderson Trapp, 2004.166.23

Woodland Stream

Paul Huet · c. 1840 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2004.166.23

Shown from about the hips up, a young woman with smooth, light skin, rosy cheeks, and dark brown hair stands in front of a dark background holding a pewter plate with two human eyes on it, and a tall palm frond in this vertical painting. She stands with her body and face angled to our right but she looks to our left from the corners of her dark eyes, under dark eyebrows. She has a long, straight nose, and her pink lips are closed. A strong light falls on the woman’s face from our left, leaving the other half of her face in darkness. She wears a crown of ruby-red, buttercup-yellow, shell-pink, and white flowers on her head. A faint gold halo catches the light above the flowers and then is swallowed in shadow. Her dress has a close-fitting, scarlet-red bodice over puffy white, long sleeves. A teal-blue ribbon on her chest frames a gold and red brooch-like medallion. Three strings of white pearls encircle her neck above the neckline. Olive-green fabric that drapes over her left shoulder, farther from us, and around her waist is gathered with a gold brooch at her left hip. In her right hand, closer to us, she holds the pewter plate with two lidded human eyes with dark pupils; they seem to look out at us. In her left hand, she holds a long yellow palm frond, which is bright against the dark brown background. The identify of the woman is written in capital, gold letters in the upper left corner “S. LVCIA.”
Francisco de Zurbarán, Saint Lucy, c. 1625/1630, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1943.7.11

Saint Lucy

Francisco de Zurbarán · c. 1625/1630 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1943.7.11

Jules Coignet, View of Lake Nemi, 1843, oil on paper on canvas, Gift of Mrs. John Jay Ide in memory of Mr. and Mrs. William Henry Donner, 1994.52.2

View of Lake Nemi

Jules Coignet · 1843 · oil on paper on canvas ·  Accession ID  1994.52.2

A bearded man kneels before a bishop in front of a crowd gathered outside a church in this vertical painting. The people all have pale skin. The bishop is to our left, though he stands angled to our right on the church steps. His face is lined and his eyebrows furrowed as he looks into the distance to our right. He holds up one hand with the thumb and first two fingers extended. His tall, pointed white mitre hat is widely edged with gold and jewels. A saucer-sized gold medallion fastens the two sides of his long, gold brocade robe. Under that, he wears a brick-red garment over a white shirt visible at his neck and wrists. Four clean-shaven clergymen stand behind him. The one closest to us wears white and his blond hair is cut into a ring around his head. He holds a hooked staff, a crozier, and his body blocks the others. The kneeling man, to our right, presses his hands together in prayer as he looks up at the bishop. The kneeling man wears an off-white cloth tied around his head and plum-purple, gold, and pine-green robes. A black, oval object, perhaps a cap, lies on the church step next to his knee. About fifteen men, women, and children line up beyond the kneeling man, forming a loose backward C-curve through the center of the scene. They are dressed in rose-pink, lemon or mustard-yellow, avocado-green, blue, or orange garments. At the back of the queue and seen in the near distance between the kneeling man and bishop, two men reach out to support a third man lying on the ground. The prone man looks with wild eyes and a gaping mouth at a green demon hovering overhead. The group occupies a plaza flanked by the beige stone church on the left and a large tan building with arched windows on the right. Statues and carvings fill the arched portals of the church beyond the bishop. The space is enclosed with more buildings set farther back from the two closer structures. A few wispy clouds float against the azure-blue sky overhead.   
Master of Saint Giles, Anonymous Artist, Episodes from the Life of a Bishop Saint, c. 1500, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.14

Episodes from the Life of a Bishop Saint

Master of Saint Giles, Anonymous Artist · c. 1500 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.2.14