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Princes of Liechtenstein

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A young woman, holding a knife and vegetable in her lap and wearing a clay-brown jacket over a long, poppy-red skirt, sits on a wooden ladderback chair angled to our right in the center of this vertical painting. She has pale skin with cheeks and lips flushed deep pink. A white cap covers her upswept hair, and a sea-blue and tan neckerchief drapes around her neck. She hunches forward slightly and gazes to our right with parted lips. Her hands rest in her lap, and she holds a knife in her right hand and a white root vegetable in her left. Her lap is draped with an ivory-white cloth, speckled with tan spots that continue onto the hem of her red skirt and the floor. A copper-brown bowl with a flaring lip and a peacock-blue interior sits on the floor at her feet with several irregular white shapes lying inside, presumably peeled vegetables. To her left, our right, is a log-like section of a thick tree trunk with a cleaver embedded in it. The handle of a copper pan leans against the block. The bottom of that pan is propped up against a deep blue-gray bowl with a gold-colored interior. Light coming from the upper left gleams on the edges of the cookware and illuminates a spatter of tomato red on the surface of the chopping block. In the lower left, a handful of dirt-brown tubers are piled near an orange pumpkin or gourd, which is cut off by the edge of the painting. The floor and wall behind the woman are peanut brown washed with thin layers of slate blue. The artist signed and dated the painting in black on the wall above the chopping block, “Chardin 1738.”
Jean Siméon Chardin, The Kitchen Maid, 1738, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.38

The Kitchen Maid

Jean Siméon Chardin · 1738 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1952.5.38

A pale-skinned woman stands holding a spoon and egg, and bracing a long-handled pan in one elbow, in front of a wooden table near a fireplace mantle in this vertical painting. The scene is brightly lit from our left, and the background falls into shadow. To the right of center, the woman wears a hip-length, white jacket patterned with large, rose-pink dots over a long skirt with vertical stripes of peach, shell and carnation pink, white, and tawny brown. A knee-length, petal-pink apron is pinned to the front of her dress. A frilled white bonnet covers her hair, and she wears fern-green, high-heeled, slip-on shoes. Her body faces our left almost in profile. She holds a silver spoon in her right hand as she peels the egg she holds in the other. A white cloth with a powder-blue stripe is draped over her left arm, which is bent to cradle the long handle of a pot. She stands in front of the table, which angles away from us. The end of the table closest to us is covered with a white cloth under a round loaf of bread, a tall, sky-blue pitcher, a shallow bowl with another egg and a pewter egg cup inside, and a large knife with a wooden handle. A mahogany-red pot with its cover askew sits at her feet. Behind the woman and to our right, the mantle and fireplace is cut off by the right edge of the canvas. A wooden ladderback chair peeks out from beyond the mantle, and a tall, covered, olive-green pitcher sits on the floor in front of it. A stoppered flagon and two bowls sit on the corner of the mantle. The wall and floor are fawn brown, darkening in shadow toward the back and left of the room.
Jean Siméon Chardin, The Attentive Nurse, 1747, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.37

The Attentive Nurse

Jean Siméon Chardin · 1747 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1952.5.37

Facing away from us, a young woman with pale skin, wearing a golden yellow gown, leans her head down toward the lute she holds nearly upright in her lap in this horizontal painting. She sits near the right edge of the painting so her body faces the table beyond her, to our left. Her body is angled away from us but she turns her head so we see her in profile, facing our left. She tips her head to put her ear next to the lute, and she looks down and off to our left with brown eyes under thin, slightly arched brows. She has a straight nose, smooth, flushed cheeks, and her coral-pink lips are closed. Her dark blond hair is parted down the middle and pulled back under long braids looped around the back and over the top of her head. Light reflects off her hair and off the short, loose strands near the ear we can see. Her long yellow dress has a full skirt. The stiff bodice is laced up the sides and hooks over the shoulders, over a voluminous, bright white blouse. The sleeve we can see is pushed up over her forearm. Her seat is draped in crimson-red, velvety fabric. She holds the neck of the lute up high with her left hand, her fingers pressing the strings, so she brings the rounded body of the instrument up to her ear. In front of her, the table is draped with fringed, olive-green fabric. A violin made with blond wood lies on the table with the neck stretching toward us. There is also the violin bow and at least three wooden recorders on the table. One book of music is open so the pages fall over the edge of the table, near the woman. One other book of music at the back of the table is held open with a recorder. The feet of the table and the ankles of the woman are cut off by the bottom edge of the painting. The background is dark, earth brown except for a diagonal shaft of light across the top left corner of the composition, presumably from a high window in the wall out of our view.
Orazio Gentileschi, The Lute Player, c. 1612/1620, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1962.8.1

The Lute Player

Orazio Gentileschi · c. 1612/1620 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1962.8.1

Benedetto da Maiano, Madonna and Child, c. 1475, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1960.5.16

Madonna and Child

Benedetto da Maiano · c. 1475 · marble ·  Accession ID  1960.5.16

Pisan 14th Century, Angel with Symphonia, c. 1360, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1960.5.14

Angel with Symphonia

Pisan 14th Century · c. 1360 · marble ·  Accession ID  1960.5.14

This square portrait shows the head and shoulders of a young woman in front of a spiky bush that fills much of the background except for a landscape view that extends into the deep distance to our right. The woman's body is angled to our right but her face turns to us. She has chalk-white, smooth skin with heavily lidded, light brown eyes, and her pale pink lips are closed. Pale blush highlights her cheeks, and she looks either at us or very slightly away from our eyes. Her brown hair is parted down the middle and pulled back, but tight, lively curls frame her face. Her hair turns gold where the light shines on it. She wears a brown dress, trimmed along the square neckline with gold. The front of the bodice is tied with a blue ribbon, and the lacing holes are also edged with gold. A sheer white veil covers her chest and is pinned at the center with a small gold ball. The bush fills the space around her head with copper-brown, spiky leaves. A river winds between trees and rolling hills in the distance to our right. Trees and a town along the horizon, which comes about halfway up the painting, is pale blue under an ice-blue sky.
Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], c. 1474/1478, oil on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1967.6.1.a

Ginevra de' Benci [obverse]

Leonardo da Vinci · c. 1474/1478 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1967.6.1.a

A laurel branch to the left and a palm branch to the right, both in muted green tones, curve toward each other, crossing near the top to frame a sprig of spiky juniper in this square painting. A scroll with the Latin words “VIRTVUTEM FORMA DECORAT” weaves around and across the circle made by the branches near the bottom of the composition. The laurel has slightly serrated, oblong leaves that come to a point at either end. The palm has closely packed, narrow leaves that flare out like a feather to our right. The laurel, palm, and delicate twig of juniper are cut off near the bottom edge, where there is an area of flat brown that rises like a mound at the middle and tapers to each side. The rest of the background is dark brown speckled with rose pink, and a crimson-red, round seal is pressed into the top right corner.
Leonardo da Vinci, Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], c. 1474/1478, tempera on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1967.6.1.b

Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse]

Leonardo da Vinci · c. 1474/1478 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1967.6.1.b

The sculpture is a male bust with realistic facial details, short combed hair, and a calm expression. The material used is a brown earthy tone resembling terracotta or ceramic. The figure is dressed in a formal garment with smooth lines and gentle folds.
Florentine 15th Century, A Gentleman, c. 1485/1490, terracotta, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1943.4.75

A Gentleman

Florentine 15th Century · c. 1485/1490 · terracotta ·  Accession ID  1943.4.75

This painting shows a man from the knees up, seated and facing slightly to the right. He has pale skin, short, curly dark hair, a thin moustache, and a goatee. His expression is neutral as he gazes at us. He wears a dark red garment with voluminous sleeves, with a shining, polished gray breastplate over it. Draped over his shoulder and around his back is a light green cloak, and his legs also have silvery armor. In his left hand, he holds a long wooden staff. His other hand is raised, his fingers curled. He is positioned near a stone column or wall on the left, with a background on the right depicting a distant landscape under a blue sky, with blue fields and structures in the distance.
Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, Portrait of a Knight, c. 1525, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.74

Portrait of a Knight

Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo · c. 1525 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1952.5.74

Pisan 14th Century, Angel with Tambourine, c. 1360, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1960.5.15

Angel with Tambourine

Pisan 14th Century · c. 1360 · marble ·  Accession ID  1960.5.15

Bibliography

1943

  • Strohmer, Erich V. Die Gemäldegalerie des Fürsten Liechtenstein in Wien. Vienna, 1943:

1948

  • Ausstellung im Kunstmuseum Luzern. Meisterwerke aus den Sammlungen des Fürsten von Liechtenstein [cat.]. Lucern, 1948.

1954

  • Jacques Seligmann & Co., Inc. A Catalogue of Seven Marble Sculptures of the Italian Trecento and Quattrocento from the Collection of his Highness the Prince of Liechtenstein. New York, 1954.

1980

  • Baumstark, Reinhold. Masterpieces from the Collection of the Princes of Liechtenstein. New York, 1980.

1995

  • Collections du Prince de Liechtenstein.Exh. cat. Musée national d'histoire et d'art, Luxembourg, 1995.

2004

  • Kräfter, Johann, Wilfried Seipel and Renate Trnek. Rubens in Vienna. The Masterpieces. Vienna, 2004.

2013

  • Kräftner, Johan. Die Schätze der Liechtenstein: Paläste, Gemälde, Skulpturen. Vienna, 2013.