Provenance

Clarence H. Mackay

Mackay, Clarence Hungerford

1874 - 1938

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The sculpture depicts a relief of a mother holding a small child. Both figures have halos. The sculpture is made from a light-colored material and has delicately carved details. The figures are framed by a rectangular, ornate frame with a gilded, golden finish. The mother figure has serene features. She supports the child with one hand while the child stands confidently. This sculpture is mounted on a wall.
Antonio Rossellino, Madonna and Child, c. 1475/1478, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.327

Madonna and Child

Antonio Rossellino · c. 1475/1478 · marble ·  Accession ID  1939.1.327

Shown from the thighs up, a woman holding a baby is surrounded by a man, woman, and two winged angels in this vertical painting. Mary, the central woman, the baby, Jesus, and the other woman, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, have pale, peach-toned skin. The man, Saint Jerome, and two angels have slightly darker peach-colored skin with faint gray shading. They all have gold halos, wide-set, hooded, light brown eyes, long, straight noses, delicate mouths, and pointed chins where we can see. Mary sits with her knees angled to our right, and she looks down at the baby held sitting upright near that shoulder. The crown of her head is covered by a white veil down to her forehead. A lapis-blue cloak drapes over the back of her head, her shoulders, and across her lap. There is a gold starburst on the right shoulder, to our left, and the cloak is edged in gold. The dress she wears is patterned ruby red on garnet red and decorated with shimmering, bright gold designs. She supports Jesus’s bottom with her left hand, to our right, and braces his chest with her other hand. He has small features with chubby cheeks, a high hairline with blond hair, and a chubby body. He grips the neckline of her dress with his right hand, to our left, and touches the hand that holds his chest with the other. He is nude except for a translucent white cloth around his chest and hips. To our left, Saint Jerome looks down at and writes in a book with a dark green cover using a feather quill. He is balding and has a long white beard. His forehead is lined, his cheeks hollow, and his lips parted. He wears a red robe over a white garment with a white collar. To our right, Saint Catherine looks at Jesus and holds a blue-covered book and black quill pen in one hand and a fragment of a wooden wheel lined with spikes with the other. Her blond hair is wrapped with and around a white cloth, and she wears a white-on-white patterned dress under a silver-gray cloak. One angel looks on from between Mary and the other looks up and to our right from behind Jesus. Both have their lips parted. The one to our right wears a pale pink garment and holds up one hand. The background is shiny, bright gold punched along the top and upper corners with a geometric design.
Matteo di Giovanni, Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and Angels, c. 1465/1470, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.297

Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and Angels

Matteo di Giovanni · c. 1465/1470 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.297

This free-standing, painted, terracotta portrait sculpture shows the head, shoulders, and chest of a man with dark hair and a prominent nose. His face and body are angled slightly to our right in this photograph, and he looks down his crooked nose. He has peach-colored skin, which is lightly shadowed around his chin. His thin lips are set in a line, and his brow is furrowed low above his eyes. Chin-length brown hair hangs straight down the sides of his face. His garment has scarlet-red sleeves under a navy-blue tunic, and he wears a red headdress that hangs down to his shoulder over his left ear, on our right. A red scarf drapes across his chest, and the end hangs on his chest on our left. Paint losses on the surface of the sculpture allow the brown terracotta to show through in some areas.
Florentine 16th Century, Lorenzo de' Medici, possibly 1513/1520, painted terracotta, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1943.4.92

Lorenzo de' Medici

Florentine 16th Century · possibly 1513/1520 · painted terracotta ·  Accession ID  1943.4.92

The sculpture depicts a central figure at the top, a nude male wearing a winged helmet, holding an object in one hand and with the other raised. Surrounding the base are seated figures with draped clothing, animal heads, and ornamental elements, crafted with intricate details. The sculpture appears to have a bronze appearance and a dark patina, giving it a classic look. It stands on a solid base, emphasizing its grandeur and complexity.
Venetian 17th Century, Andiron with Figure of Mars, c. 1600/1675, bronze, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.100

Andiron with Figure of Mars

Venetian 17th Century · c. 1600/1675 · bronze ·  Accession ID  1961.9.100

A bearded and balding man with deeply tanned skin, dressed only in a strip of robin’s egg-blue fabric around his shoulders and hips, sits reading a book on a rock at the entrance to a craggy cave, in front of a landscape in this vertical painting. In the lower right corner of the composition, the man, Saint Jerome, faces our left in profile, his head bowed toward the open book propped on the rock near the knee farther from us. His hair and beard are parchment white, and he has a prominent brow ridge, a long, hooked nose, and sunken cheeks. His arms and legs are sinewy and his torso is muscled. The blue cloth is knotted over his left shoulder and wraps around his hips. A lion lies next to Saint Jerome in lower right corner, his face toward us with his mouth open. There is a rectangular pool lined with blocky, cream-white stones at Saint Jerome’s feet, to our left. The cave behind him, to our right, has a jagged, narrow, vertical entrance, and there are rocky outcroppings above and to our left, over the pool. A stone arch spans the top edge of the painting, enclosing the scene below. Other animals appear around Saint Jerome, including a lizard near the pool; a squirrel on the grassy top of the cave entrance; and a black bird in the barren branches of a tree growing from the rocks above the cave. On the far side of the pool, two rabbits, white and brown, touch noses on a grass-topped, low, rocky wall. There is a hill with two dark green bushes beyond that. In the distance, a cluster of tan-colored, stone buildings, some in ruins, spread down a hillside to the water’s edge. Across the water to our right, deep in the distance, white buildings line the horizon, which comes about two-thirds of the way up this painting. A few puffs of white clouds float along the waterline against a vivd, azure-blue sky above.
Giovanni Bellini, Saint Jerome Reading, 1505, oil on linden panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.217

Saint Jerome Reading

Giovanni Bellini · 1505 · oil on linden panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.217

Shown from the waist up, a young woman embraces a baby in this vertical painting. They both have peachy skin, reddish-blond hair, and round faces. The woman is angled to our left and almost takes up the height of the painting. She looks down with gray eyes through lowered lids, under slender, arched brows. She has a straight nose and her pale pink lips are closed. Barely visible, a thin dotted white line spans her brow. A few loose, copper-colored tendrils frame her face under an azure-blue mantle that drapes over her head, shoulders, and arms. Under the mantle she wears a brick-red robe with a stylized, plant-like pattern in gold on the upper bodice and the cuff we can see. Her left elbow, on our right, rests on a sage-green ledge that runs along the bottom edge of the composition, and that hand dangles over the child’s leg. Her other hand curves around the baby’s back. The child is turned to our right to face the woman. He is wrapped in a cloak the same red as the woman's robe, and it has a thin gold border. He sits on a kelly-green cushion resting along the left side of the ledge. His head is turned to gaze off to our right with large hazel eyes under thin brows. He has a button nose and a rosy flush around his small pink mouth, which is slightly open. His right hand dips into the woman’s neckline while the other arm embraces her neck. His right leg stretches out toward her so one pudgy foot peeks out from under the red cloth. The horizon of the landscape behind them comes halfway up the painting. Sloping fields are dotted with trees. Low hills are ice blue in the hazy distance along the horizon, and the sky above is nearly white near the mountains, deepening to pale blue along the top edge.
Antonello da Messina, Madonna and Child, c. 1475, oil and tempera on panel transferred from panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.30

Madonna and Child

Antonello da Messina · c. 1475 · oil and tempera on panel transferred from panel ·  Accession ID  1937.1.30

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

The sculpture is a bust of a woman, focusing on her head and shoulders. She has a high forehead with slightly curling hair pulled back under a smooth cap. Her face includes thin eyebrows, a long nose, a slightly cleft chin, and lips set in a neutral expression. Her eyes are blank, without a visible pupil or iris. Her clothing appears to be an intricately detailed dress, featuring floral patterns and slightly puffed sleeves. The sculpture is carved from a smooth, light-colored material.
Italian 15th Century, A Lady, 1475/1485, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.326

A Lady

Italian 15th Century · 1475/1485 · marble ·  Accession ID  1939.1.326

The sculpture depicts a woman holding a child. The woman is seen from the waist up, wearing a gold robe with black details. Both the woman and child have pale skin with rosy cheeks, golden hair, and red lips in neutral expressions. The child is a young toddler, portrayed naked, with his arms on the woman's shoulders and his feet among the folds of her robe. The sculpture has a rectangular base in red and gold.
Florentine 15th Century, Madonna and Child, c. 1425, painted and gilded terracotta with wood backing, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1943.4.93

Madonna and Child

Florentine 15th Century · c. 1425 · painted and gilded terracotta with wood backing ·  Accession ID  1943.4.93

This vertical portrait shows the head, shoulders, and chest of a young man with smooth, pale skin and shoulder-length, dark blond hair positioned behind a narrow gray, stone ledge. Shown against a black background, the man tilts his head to our left and his eyes cut to our right. His left eyebrow, on our right, is slightly arched over brown eyes. He has a long, straight nose, pale pink lips, and his hair falls down the sides of his face from beneath a crimson-red, flat-topped cap. He wears a brown garment with white linen peeking through at the shoulder seams. The neck and seam down the front are lined with white, perhaps fur. He holds his right hand to his chest with his middle finger overlapping his ring finger.
Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Youth, c. 1482/1485, tempera on poplar panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.19

Portrait of a Youth

Sandro Botticelli · c. 1482/1485 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1937.1.19

Bibliography

1938

  • "Clarence Mackay Dies at Home Here After Long Illness." The New York Times, 13 November 1938: 1, 46.