Provenance

Julius Böhler

Boehler, Julius
Böhler and Steinmeyer, Inc.
Galerie Julius Böhler
Julius Böhler Kunsthandel AG
Kunsthandel AG Lucerne

German, est. 1880

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In a landscape with chiseled, rocky mountains beyond a grassy meadow and stream, two men wearing dove-gray robes react to a flame-red cross in the sky in this nearly square painting. Both men have pale skin and their hair has been cut into a ring around each head. Their loose robes are cinched at the waist, and both have bare feet. The man to our left, with hands raised, kneels with his body angled to our right, facing the red cross in the sky, in the upper right corner of the painting. He has gray or blond hair and a flat gold halo edged with red. Five thin gold lines emanate from the red cross to touch the man’s hands, feet, and the right side of his chest. There is a red spot where one gold ray touches the palm of his right hand, closer to us. The second man, to our right, sits and leans back on one hand and holds his other hand to his brow as he looks up at the cross. He has dark hair. A small book with yellow pages and a red cover sits on the grass nearby. In the background, each of the three tall, pointed mountains nearly touch the top edge of the composition, and each is a different color, with icy, pale blue to our left, shell pink at the center, and light laurel green to our right. A stream running in front of the mountains turns a corner and comes our way in the lower right corner of the panel. The green meadow has a line of dark pine green trees and bushes behind the kneeling man and along the bottom left edge of the panel, near us. Wisps of white clouds float in the violet-purple sky above.
Domenico Veneziano, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata, c. 1445/1450, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.140

Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata

Domenico Veneziano · c. 1445/1450 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.140

This is a painting depicting a heraldic coat of arms. The image features a detailed coat of arms with a central shield, adorned with black and gold sections, and additional decorative elements above it. There is a figure resembling a unicorn emerging from the crest. The background is a deep red hue. The artwork is displayed within a wooden frame with crossbars. This style is associated with displaying family crests and lineage.
Bernhard Strigel, Hans Roth [reverse], 1527, oil on panel, Ralph and Mary Booth Collection, 1947.6.4.b

Hans Roth [reverse]

Bernhard Strigel · 1527 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1947.6.4.b

This painting shows a person standing in front of a window, turned slightly to the left. The person has fair skin, light blue eyes, and reddish-brown hair that falls just above their ears. Their pink lips are set in a neutral expression. They wear a flat black hat with a wide rim, and a brown fur mantle over a black garment with a tall white ruffled collar. They are holding a round orange fruit in their left hand, with a small gold ring on their pointer finger. The background on the right appears to be a green wall decorated with a faint yellow pattern. On the left is a window or opening that shows a landscape with a blue sky over a rocky mountain with green trees and small houses with red roofs. Below the mountain is a blue river and a brown road with a rider on horseback visible in the distance.
Bernhard Strigel, Hans Roth [obverse], 1527, oil on panel, Ralph and Mary Booth Collection, 1947.6.4.a

Hans Roth [obverse]

Bernhard Strigel · 1527 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1947.6.4.a

Shown from the waist up behind a stone ledge, a young woman nestles a nude baby against her chest in this vertical painting. Both have pale skin with a slight, rosy blush on their cheeks, and both have halos painted as delicate gold rings around their heads. The woman’s shoulders are angled to our left, and she looks down at the baby in that direction with hooded eyes. She has a slender face, a long, straight nose, smooth cheeks, and her pale pink lips are closed. The neckline and the cuffs of her garnet-red, gold-edged gown peek out from beneath a dark, spruce-blue mantle that covers her head and wraps around her body. She rests the baby along the stone ledge and holds him in the crook of her right elbow, to our left. In her other hand, she holds a small object, perhaps an apple. The baby also touches the fruit as he lies back along her arm. He has curly, ash-blond hair, a petite nose, and chubby cheeks. He looks up at the woman or beyond her with parted, downturned lips. The pair are warmly lit from the upper left and set against a fern and olive-green landscape. Near the left edge of the painting, a church and steeple are silhouetted along the horizon, which comes just under halfway up the composition. In the sky above, a clear, pale blue horizon gives way first to puffy, cream-white clouds and then swirling clouds in tones of pine green and slate gray along the top of the picture. An inscription appears on the lower center of the ledge, “IDEM Z.B.”
Giovanni Bellini, Madonna and Child in a Landscape, c. 1480/1485, oil on panel, Ralph and Mary Booth Collection, 1946.19.1

Madonna and Child in a Landscape

Giovanni Bellini · c. 1480/1485 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1946.19.1

A winged angel strides toward a young woman who kneels at the foot of a bed, while an older, bearded man, surrounded by several winged babies and a dove, hover overhead in this vertical painting. All the people have pale skin. To our left, the blond angel steps forward on his right, sandaled foot. He holds a long stem with a white lily in his left hand, farther from us, and raises his other hand to the sky. His charcoal-gray wings are partly extended, and he wears long, flowing, goldenrod-yellow and sage-green garments with a green and blue striped sash wrapped around his chest. His lips are parted, and he looks toward the woman to our right. The woman, Mary, kneels at a wooden lectern that holds an open book near the foot of the bed. Pillows and a moss-green bed curtain are visible behind her. A cobalt-blue mantle drapes across her shoulders and wraps around her rust-red gown and caramel-brown shawl. Mary’s brown hair is partially covered by a golden brown cloth, and her dark eyes are lowered, looking down to our left. Her body is angled to our right, hands crossed over her chest, but her shoulders and head have begun to turn to look back at the angel. Almost lost in shadow, a translucent glass vase with a single stem of rose-red buds sits on the ground next to her. The floor is covered with geometric patterns in tones of brown, gray, and black. A balustrade under arched openings encloses the room beyond the bed. At the foot of one column, a striped cat laps from a saucer. Floating above the pair the bearded man looks down toward Mary, his hands and arms extended in front of him. He also wears a cobalt-blue robe over rose-pink sleeves. Two winged, nude babies cling to his outstretched arms, and also look down at Mary. A trio of three blond baby heads float around the white dove, which flies in a starburst of light. Midnight-blue wings frame each baby’s head. The entire group is surrounded by puffy, golden clouds. The landscape beyond the balustrade has lush green trees under a sapphire-blue sky sprinkled with clouds.
Veronese, Italian 16th Century, The Annunciation, c. 1583/1584, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1959.9.6

The Annunciation

Veronese, Italian 16th Century · c. 1583/1584 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1959.9.6

Shown from the lap up, a young girl with pale, peachy skin and long, light brown hair wears a crimson-red dress with slashed, puffed sleeves and three large, gold-colored necklaces covering much of her chest in this vertical portrait painting. She sits with her body angled slightly to our left and, with her head tipped slightly forward, she looks off in that direction with slate-blue eyes under faint brows. Her long, wavy, golden-brown hair falls from her high forehead and lies loose around her shoulders. Her dress has bands of a floral pattern outlined in a lighter red against a ruby-red background, and the bodice ties with red laces down the front over a white undershirt. The tight-fitting, long sleeves are slashed around the elbows so the white linen shirt can be pulled through to create puffs. Her high-necked chemise has a jeweled band at the neck. The three strings of the distinctive necklace seem to be made of gold-colored strips of fabric or leather made into twisting loops, which are then linked together like a paper chain. Each strip is painted or decorated with a fine, dense lattice pattern and edged in gold. The girl sits with her wrists crossed in her lap against a black background.
Lucas Cranach the Elder, A Princess of Saxony, c. 1517, oil on panel, Ralph and Mary Booth Collection, 1947.6.2

A Princess of Saxony

Lucas Cranach the Elder · c. 1517 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1947.6.2

Shown from the waist up, a young boy with blond hair faces us, wearing an embroidered garment and heavy cloak in this vertical portrait painting. His body angles slightly to our right, but he looks just off to our left with pale blue, faintly bulbous eyes. He has pale skin, flushed cheeks, a delicate nose, a pointed chin, and his pink lips are closed. His wavy hair curls around his shoulders, and a fringe of bangs spans his forehead. A crown of black pearls, gold, and green stones is set at an angle on his head. His high-necked light brown shirt is edged with gold and embroidered with white and gold. The long sleeves are brocaded with a ruby-red floral pattern against darker garnet red. He holds the edge of a caramel-brown, sleeveless overcoat with one pale hand, and the other is cupped with fingers pointing upward just below. He is shown against a black background.
Lucas Cranach the Elder, A Prince of Saxony, c. 1517, oil on panel, Ralph and Mary Booth Collection, 1947.6.1

A Prince of Saxony

Lucas Cranach the Elder · c. 1517 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1947.6.1

Three women and five men play cards around a round table covered with piles of gold coins in this square painting. The people all have pale skin. The women have round faces, close-set, small eyes, delicate noses and lips, and cleft chins. They wear dresses with tight bodices and long sleeves, and cloth head coverings. The men have prominent, bumped noses, furrowed brows, and lines around their eyes. They wear hats and voluminous robes and coats in shades of ruby red, moss green, golden brown, and black. Two women and two men play cards, and each has a second person behind them or at their shoulders. The woman along the left edge of the painting wears gloves, and she looks out at us. She points at the table or at the space between her and another card player. She holds her cards up so the six of hearts at the front is visible in front of a face card of hearts and a card with spades. A clean-shaven man standing behind her stoops and drapes his arms across her shoulders, one hand limp and gesturing with a three and the other hand cupping the woman’s cards. He looks across the table. The next player is also a woman, who rests one wrist on her face-down cards on the table. She counts out coins with her other hand, and the bearded man behind her stands with one hand tucked into the opening of his robe, leaning back as he looks across the table. Next, a clean-shaven man holds three cards up to his chest as he turns to look to our left, his brows gathered and lips parted. A woman stands between these two players with a hand draped over each of their shoulders. She peers down at the man’s cards and makes a number two with that hand. Her other loose fist rests on the shoulder of the second female card player. The final pair, along the right edge of the painting, are two men. The card player holds his cards so we see the ace of spades at the front. He points at a row of coins or toward the gap left between him and the woman to our left. He leans forward and looks intently, chin jutted out, at the man with his hand tucked into his robe. A man with a long gray beard sits just over the fourth player’s shoulder and appears to look across the scene absently with heavy-lidded eyes. The round table is covered in a teal-blue cloth. A rectangular sideboard in the back left of the room is covered with a white cloth and holds a vase of white flowers, a vessel, a wooden basket, and a piece of fruit. The wall behind this is gray along the top and wood-paneled below. An alcove in the wall to the right holds two vessels, a round gold-colored, plum-sized object, and another basket. A pale yellow curtain is pulled to the right side of that alcove.
Anonymous Artist, The Card Players, probably c. 1550/1599, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.27

The Card Players

Anonymous Artist · probably c. 1550/1599 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1961.9.27

Shown from the waist up, a woman wearing a garnet-red robe rests a book and a palm frond against a spiked wheel, all against a gold background in this arched, vertical painting. The woman’s light skin is tinged with pale green, and her cheeks are faint pink. Her shoulders face us, and she slightly looks up and off to our right with gray eyes under curved brows. She has a long, straight nose, and her small, full, bow-shaped lips are closed. Her wavy blond hair is parted down the middle and pulled back at the base of her head. Her red robe has a pattern of delicate diamond shapes and the underside is white, visible where it turns over around the neck. The robe is fastened with a round, gold disk the size of a DVD. Letters there read, “S.K.A.T.E.R.I.N.A.” around the perimeter of a four-lobed, red, blue, and gold geometric design at the center of the brooch. The sky-blue garment beneath her robe has a marine-blue collar. She clasps the palm frond in her left hand, to our right. The hand rests on the book, which is propped against the wheel in front of her, so the frond reaches beyond and above that shoulder, nearly to the edge of the painting. The wheel is edged with short, curving spikes like talons. The woman’s gold crown and round halo blend into the shimmering gold background, which is visibly cracked in some areas. The top of the panel curves up as if into an arch but is cut across the panel over her halo.
Bartolomeo Bulgarini, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1335/1340, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1943.4.20

Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Bartolomeo Bulgarini · c. 1335/1340 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1943.4.20

The painting depicts a wide country road seen from above. The horizon is halfway up the painting, showing the flat, green land meeting the blue sky. Far in the distance there are faint blue buildings, including a tall tower. The road curves toward us from this distant city, with small people in the distance walking along it. Closer to us, at the bottom of the painting, several groups of people travel down the path in either direction. People converse, herd cattle and brown pigs, or ride in horse-drawn carts as they move down the dirt path. Brushstrokes capture detailed foliage, people, and animals. The color palette includes rich greens, earthy browns, and bright clothing in shades of red, blue, yellow, and white.
Jan Brueghel the Elder, Wooded Landscape with Travelers, 1610, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2020.26.1

Wooded Landscape with Travelers

Jan Brueghel the Elder · 1610 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  2020.26.1

Bibliography

2001

  • Francini, Esther Tisa, Anja Heuss and Georg Kreis, Fluchtgut-Raubgut: Der Transfer von Kulturgütern in und über die Schweiz 1933-1945 und die Frage der Restitution. Zurich, 2001:244-245