Frederick Mont

1894 - 1994

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A pale-skinned woman with honey-blond hair reclines among wheat stalks and grape vines in this horizontal painting. She lies on her side with her head to our right and her body facing us. Her upper body is propped on her left elbow. Her other arm is raised and bent at the elbow so her hand cups the back of her head. Her bottom hand rests on a tan-colored cloth spread under her, and her head tilts down as she looks with hooded eyes off to the left. Curls frame her face, and braids cross the top of her head. She has flushed cheeks, smooth skin, and pink lips. A mauve-pink garment wraps around her torso and legs but leaves her shoulders, one breast, and her bottom leg bare from the knee down. That foot disappears behind a section of a dark brown tree trunk that rises up the left side of the composition. A brick-red parrot with gold and black wings and tail sits on a short, broken branch there, facing our left. A slate-blue bird sits on the curving branch of a bush nearby, which has oval-shaped, moss-green leaves and delicate pink blossoms. Dark green grape leaves and clusters dangle over the woman from the top edge of the canvas, and almost span the width of the painting. Beyond the woman is a row of golden wheat stalks against a celestial-blue sky. The corners of the image are white, indicating that the painting had been shaped or framed to create an elongated, octagonal shape.
Jacopo Tintoretto, Summer, c. 1546/1548, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.90

Summer

Jacopo Tintoretto · c. 1546/1548 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1961.9.90

A young, bearded man wearing only a white loincloth stands facing us in a pale blue river with a man to one side and a winged angel to the other in this vertical painting. They all have pale or tanned skin and tawny-brown hair. The man at the center, Jesus, stands knee-deep in the placid water with his hands together in prayer. He looks off to our left, his hollow eyes set above a drooping mouth. To our left, a man kneels on the rocky riverbank and trickles water from his hand onto Jesus’s head. That man wears a fawn-brown robe under a raspberry-red cloak. He is bearded with curly brown hair, and he has dark circles under his eyes and a downturned mouth. The winged angel stands to our right on a flat stone, closer to us. Gold and pink wings rise vertically along the right edge of the composition. The angel wears voluminous white robes and holds a marine-blue garment in both hands. A white dove hovering over Jesus’s head is surrounded by a halo edged with teal, pea-green, and pink rings. A bearded man wearing a tiered, jeweled crown looks down from a round opening in the ice-blue sky above the dove. He holds one hand up in blessing and holds an orb topped by a cross in the other. About ten fish nibble at the rocks near Jesus’s feet in the river, which winds through a pale green field to a town of turrets and towers in the distance.
Juan de Flandes, The Baptism of Christ, c. 1508/1519, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.25

The Baptism of Christ

Juan de Flandes · c. 1508/1519 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1961.9.25

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

A half-peeled pomegranate, a few nuts, a bunch of purple grapes, and a glass of pale yellow wine sit on the corner of a stone ledge against a dark background in this vertical still life painting. The corner of the chipped gray ledge is close to and lines up with the lower left corner of the painting. Two hazelnuts sit near the front of the ledge, and a twig with three more nuts in papery husks are attached to a twig. Behind that, the flaring cup of the wineglass is made up of flat panels, which are inwardly scalloped along the upper edge, like an upside-down badminton shuttlecock. The stem is made of intertwining ropes of clear and black glass. At the lower center of the composition, the glistening, scarlet-red seeds of the pomegranate contrast with the rust-orange rind. Another twig of hazelnuts is between the pomegranate and the bunch of frosty purple grapes. The vine and a broad, dark green leaf arches over the grapes and pomegranate. The objects are brightly lit from our left against a charcoal-gray background. Molding under the ledge can be made out in the shadows across the bottom edge of the painting. Closer inspection reveals tiny water droplets on the stone ledge and the pomegranate. The artist signed and dated the painting in cursive text on the front face of the ledge, near the lower right corner: “J: Walscappel 1675.”
Jacob van Walscapelle, Still Life with Fruit, 1675, oil on panel, Juliet and Lee Folger/The Folger Fund, 2001.71.1

Still Life with Fruit

Jacob van Walscapelle · 1675 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  2001.71.1

Anonymous Artist, The Flight into Egypt, c. 1550/1575, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.81

The Flight into Egypt

Anonymous Artist · c. 1550/1575 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1961.9.81

A bearded man with copper-blond hair and flushed, peachy skin stands on a stone-gray pedestal and gestures toward a group of five more men gathered before him in this square painting. Some of the men are light-skinned, others are tan. The man on the platform, Decius Mus, stands with his ruddy face turned to our right in profile, his muscular right arm raised and right foot extended. He wears a knee-length toga, and form-fitting armor covers his torso. A sword hangs from his waist, and a scarlet-red cape flaps behind him. Piled against the pedestal in the lower left are spears, battle axes, a silvery-gray shield covered with gold lightning bolts, and an ornate crested helmet. In the upper left corner, an eagle with one wing extended hovers behind Decius Mus’s head, clutching long peach and straw-colored strands in its talons. The other five men stand clustered together on the ground to our right, facing Decius Mus. They are also bearded and muscular, and each holds a golden staff topped with a different symbol. They wear knee-length tunics and cloaks in brick red, olive green, black, or tan, and three wear armor protecting their upper bodies. Calf-high, brown boots cover their feet but leave their toes exposed. The man closest to us has gray hair and stands with his back to us. A parchment-brown animal skin speckled with brown spots covers the back of his head and wraps around his armor and tunic. The man just beyond him, to our left, faces us and holds a gold staff topped with an eagle set within a round laurel wreath. The rest of the men stand in profile, filling the right side of the composition, and they lean in toward Decius Mus. Two of them wear crested helmets, one olive green, the other charcoal gray, both with gold ornamentation on the front. The man in the gray helmet holds aloft a flag painted with vertical swipes of scarlet red and ginger brown. A sketchily painted landscape beyond the group has trees with dark brown trunks and sage-green leaves along the left edge, leading back to a line of trees in the distance. Rolling, teal-blue land along the horizon could be hazy mountains. The powder-blue sky above is scattered with butter-yellow and light gray clouds. The scene is loosely painted, especially in the costumes and background.
Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Decius Mus Addressing the Legions, probably 1616, oil on hardboard, transferred from wood and canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1957.14.2

Decius Mus Addressing the Legions

Sir Peter Paul Rubens · probably 1616 · oil on hardboard, transferred from wood and canvas ·  Accession ID  1957.14.2

About fifty pale-skinned men, women, and children along with a giraffe, ox, and other animals gather in groups across a hilly landscape in this vertical painting. The people wear robes or dresses in shades of carnation pink, honey orange, sky blue, ruby red, leaf green, or golden brown. The people’s skin is painted pearl white or, in a few instances, tinged with gray. A crowd of eight men and women gather in the lower left quadrant behind a man who points to the right with a stick. Others sit on the ground or on rocks, stand at barrel-sized urns, or bend to the ground. A porcupine, white rabbit, black bear, cow, cheetah-like animals, and several others are spaced along the foreground, close to us. The gathering continues into the distance to the right, where a path leads to a cluster of buildings along a jagged coastline. Craggy mountains rising from water line are shaded aquamarine blue under a cloudy sky. A few tall, spindly trees grow up the center of the composition, and a tall, rocky outcropping takes up most of the upper left quadrant.
Bachiacca, The Gathering of Manna, 1540/1555, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.4

The Gathering of Manna

Bachiacca · 1540/1555 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.4

In the stone ruins of a building, a woman, Mary, kneels with her hands in prayer over a thin-limbed baby lying in front of her in this vertical painting. There is a man behind Mary, to our left, two more in a field to our right, and a winged angel in the upper right corner. They all have pale skin. Mary’s unbound blond hair falls over her shoulders. She wears a celestial-blue dress, and her teal-blue cloak is edged with gold. Her body is angled to our right, and she looks down her straight nose at the baby near her knees. The nude baby has blond curls and a chubby tummy and cheeks. An ox and an ass look down at the baby from behind a stone trough to our right. The man behind Mary wears a forest-green cap and scarf over a tomato-red robe. One hand rests on a staff, and he looks up at the angel in the top right corner. An owl looks down at the man from atop the stone ruins, near the top left corner. Two men recline and about a dozen white sheep lie on low hills in the near distance to our right. One of those men sleeps and the other holds up both hands as he looks into the sky. The angel in the top right corner emerges from a petal-pink and pale yellow halo against a star-strewn blue sky. The angel wears rose pink and has dark pink wings. A scroll held across both arms reads, “GLO” and “INECELSIS DEO.”  
Juan de Flandes, The Nativity, c. 1508/1519, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.23

The Nativity

Juan de Flandes · c. 1508/1519 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1961.9.23

Vincenzo Civerchio, Christ Instructing Peter and John to Prepare for the Passover, 1504, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.67

Christ Instructing Peter and John to Prepare for the Passover

Vincenzo Civerchio · 1504 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1961.9.67

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