Overview
This work was the left side of a diptych that probably depicted the Crucifixion on the opposite panel. At the lower left, looking up at a looming vision of the Virgin and Child, is a small, kneeling figure in rapt devotion.
Lippo linked the two panels visually in multiple ways, beginning with our monk-donor’s gaze to the right. Mary places her finger against Jesus’s chest in a traditional gesture that recalls icons of the Hodegetria (as seen in the National Gallery of Art's Byzantine
The green-tinged faces in early Italian pictures sometimes discomfit modern viewers. What we are seeing, in fact, is the green earth pigment of the underpainting coming through as the colors on top have been abraded over time. This is not what the artist intended or what his contemporaries would have seen. The painting’s worn surface also gives us a good chance to see the red clay layer (bole) applied beneath all the gilt areas to give the gold a rich, warm tone.
Entry
The painting’s
The painting probably was originally the left wing of a diptych. The half-length Madonna and Child frequently was combined with a representation of the Crucifixion, with or without the kneeling donor. In our panel, the donor, an unidentified prelate, is seen kneeling to the left of the Madonna; his position on the far left of the composition itself suggests that the panel was intended as a pendant to a matching panel to the right. In any case, the image was intended for the donor’s private devotion.
Ever since its first public appearance at the London exhibition of Sienese painting in 1904, this panel has been recognized as a work by Lippo Memmi. The attribution to the fourteenth-century Sienese master has seldom been placed in doubt since that time.
Given these observations, a date for the National Gallery of Art’s Madonna of slightly later than the Triumph of Saint Thomas Aquinas can be supported with some confidence. This conclusion is also reinforced by stylistic considerations, for the clear-cut and energetic design of the Pisan painting is still exempt from such features as the accomplished curvilinear rhythms and delicate chiaroscuro modeling proposed in the painting being discussed here. A terminus ante quem, on the other hand, is provided by the Madonna
Lippo, we may infer, embarked on a new stylistic phase in the years around 1325. This led him not only to dedicate ever-growing attention to reserved elegance of pose but also to refine his technique. He now tried to accentuate the realistic effects of his images. His efforts in this direction are testified by the acutely characterized portrait of the donor
Miklós Boskovits (1935–2011)
March 21, 2016
Provenance
Private collection, Paris; purchased c. 1896 through (Thos. Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London) by Robert Henry [1850–1929] and Evelyn Holford [1856–1943] Benson, London and Buckhurst Park, Surrey;[1] sold 1927 with the entire Benson collection to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[2] purchased 15 December 1936 by The Andrew W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[3] gift 1937 to NGA.
Exhibition History
- 1904
- Exhibition of Pictures of the School of Siena, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1904, no. 19.
- 1927
- Loan Exhibition of the Benson Collection of Old Italian Masters, City of Manchester Art Gallery, 1927, no. 101.
Technical Summary
The panel is composed of a single piece of wood trimmed along the lower edge. At some point in the painting’s history, the original triangular gable was cut just above the Virgin’s halo. The gable was reconstructed with modern wood during an undocumented restoration, probably conducted in 1927–1928.
Bibliography
- 1901
- Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell’arte italiana. 11 vols. Milan, 1901-1940: 5(1907):659, fig. 536.
- 1903
- Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovan Battista Cavalcaselle. A History of Painting in Italy from the Second to the Sixteenth Century. 6 vols. Edited by Robert Langton Douglas (vols. 1-4) and Tancred Borenius (vols. 5-6). Vol. 3, The Sienese, Umbrian, and North Italian Schools. London, 1903-1914: 3(1908):79 n. 1.
- 1904
- Frizzoni, Gustavo. "L’esposizione d’arte senese al Burlington Fine Arts Club." L’Arte 7 (1904): 261.
- 1904
- Fry, Roger. "La mostra d’arte senese al Burlington Club di Londra." Rassegna d’Arte 4 (1904): 117.
- 1904
- "Sienese Art at the Burlington Fine-Arts Club." The Athenaeum 3997 (June 1904): 728.
- 1905
- Douglas, Robert Langton, ed. Exhibition of Pictures of the School of Siena and Examples of the Minor Arts of That City. Exh. cat. Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1904. London, 1905: 55, no. 19, pl. 16.
- 1907
- Cust, Lionel. "La collection de M. R. H. Benson (Londres)." Les Arts 70 (1907): 24.
- 1907
- Weigelt, Curt H. “Lippo Memmi.” In Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Edited by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 23(1929):276.
- 1908
- Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle. A New History of Painting in Italy from the Second to the Sixteenth Century. 3 vols. Edited by Edward Hutton. Vol. 2, Sienese School of the Fourteenth Century; Florentine School of the Fifteenth Century. London and New York, 1908-1909: 2(1909):65 n. 6.
- 1909
- Berenson, Bernard. The Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance. 2nd ed. New York, 1909: 202.
- 1914
- Benson, Robert Henry. Catalogue of Italian Pictures at 16 South Street, Park Lane, London and Buckhurst in Sussex. London, 1914: no. 5.
- 1914
- Borenius, Tancred. Catalogue of Italian Pictures at 16 South Street, Park Lane, London and Buckhurst in Sussex Collected by Robert and Evelyn Benson. London, 1914: no. 5.
- 1920
- Marle, Raimond van. Simone Martini et les peintres de son école. Strasbourg, 1920: 107-108.
- 1923
- Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 2(1924):265, fig. 174.
- 1924
- Vitzthum, Georg Graf, and Wolgang Fritz Volbach. Die Malerei und Plastik des Mittelalters in Italien. Handbuch der Kunstwissenschaft 1. Wildpark-Potsdam, 1924: 278.
- 1926
- Gielly, Louis. Les primitifs siennois. Paris, 1926: 111.
- 1927
- Douglas, Robert Langton. "I dipinti senesi della Collezione Benson passati da Londra in America." Rassegna d’arte senese e del costume 1, no. 5 (1927): repro. 103.
- 1927
- Washburn-Freund, Frank E. "Die Sammlung Benson." Der Cicerone 19 (1927): 500.
- 1930
- Weigelt, Curt H. Die sienesische Malerei des vierzehnten Jahrhunderts. Pantheon Edition. Florence and Munich, 1930: 34.
- 1932
- Edgell, George Harold. A History of Sienese Painting. New York, 1932: 103, fig. 105.
- 1932
- Marle, Raimond van. Le scuole della pittura italiana. 2 vols. The Hague and Florence, 1932-1934: 2(1934):282, fig. 186.
- 1933
- Meiss, Millard. "The Problem of Francesco Traini." The Art Bulletin 15 (1933): 116.
- 1933
- Venturi, Lionello. Italian Paintings in America. Translated by Countess Vanden Heuvel and Charles Marriott. 3 vols. New York and Milan, 1933: 1:no. 74, repro.
- 1937
- "The Mellon Gift. A First Official List." Art News 35 (20 March 1937): 15.
- 1941
- National Gallery of Art. Book of Illustrations. Washington, 1941: 150 (repro.), 233.
- 1941
- Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 133, no. 11.
- 1941
- Richter, George Martin. "The New National Gallery in Washington." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 78 (June 1941): 177.
- 1942
- Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 239, repro. 153.
- 1946
- Douglas, Robert Langton. "Recent Additions to the Kress Collection." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 88 (1946): 85.
- 1949
- Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 6, repro.
- 1951
- Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 26 n. 1.
- 1957
- Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): 23, fig. 8.
- 1963
- Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 298, repro.
- 1965
- Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 89.
- 1968
- Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 2:270, pl. 303.
- 1968
- National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 78, repro.
- 1971
- Polzer, Joseph. "Observations on Known Paintings and a New Altarpiece by Francesco Traini." Pantheon 29 (1971): 386, 387, fig. 8.
- 1972
- Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 141, 312, 645.
- 1973
- Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 37.
- 1973
- Śnieżyńska-Stolot, Ewa. "Geneza, styl i historia obrazu Matki Boskiej częstochowskiej." Folia historiae artium 9 (1973): 26, 29 fig. 24, 30 n. 74, fig. 27.
- 1974
- De Benedictis, Cristina. "A proposito di un libro su Buffalmacco." Antichità viva 13, no. 2 (1974): 8, 9, fig. 11.
- 1975
- European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 232, repro.
- 1979
- De Benedictis, Cristina. La pittura senese 1330-1370. Florence, 1979: 21, 93, fig. 18.
- 1979
- Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:330-331; 2:pl. 240.
- 1981
- Belting, Hans. Das Bild und sein Publikum im Mittelalter: Form und Funktion früher Bildtafeln der Passion. Berlin, 1981: 72, 73, fig. 71.
- 1982
- Il gotico a Siena: miniature, pitture, oreficerie, oggetti d’arte. Exh. cat. Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Florence, 1982: 186.
- 1983
- Boskovits, Miklós. "Il gotico senese rivisitato: proposte e commenti su una mostra." Arte cristiana 71 (1983): 264.
- 1984
- Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 67, no. 6, color repro.
- 1985
- Bagnoli, Alessandro, and Luciano Bellosi, eds. Simone Martini e “chompagni”. Exh. cat. Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena. Florence, 1985: 92.
- 1985
- Brandl, Rainer. Die Tafelbilder des Simone Martini: ein Beitrag zur Kunst Sienas im Trecento. Frankfurt am Main and New York, 1985: 85 n. 1.
- 1985
- European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 230, repro. 251 (incorrectly identified as repro. for 1950.11.1.b, Attrib. to Martino di Bartolomeo di Biago, Madonna and Child with Saint Peter and Saint Stephen).
- 1986
- Boskovits, Miklós. "Sul trittico di Simone Martini e di Lippo Memmi." Arte cristiana 74 (1986): 76 n. 33, 78 fig. 12.
- 1986
- Conti, Alessandro. "Simone Martini e ‘chompagni’: Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale, March 27-October 31, 1985." Bollettino d’arte 71, nos. 35-36 (1986): 101.
- 1986
- Ercoli, Giuliano. "Precursori, maestri e ‘chompagni’ nella pittura del Duecento e del Trecento." Antichità viva 25 (1986): 11.
- 1986
- Tartuferi, Angelo. "Appunti su Simone Martini e ‘chompagni.’" Arte cristiana 74 (1986): 85, 91-92, n. 29.
- 1988
- Boskovits, Miklós, ed. Frühe italienische Malerei: Gemäldegalerie Berlin, Katalog der Gemälde. Translated by Erich Schleier. Berlin, 1988: 78, 81.
- 1989
- Castri, Serenella. "Memmi, Lippo (Lippo di Memmo di Filippuccio)." In Dizionario della pittura e dei pittori. Edited by Enrico Castelnuovo and Bruno Toscano. 6 vols. Turin, 1989-1994: 3(1992):581.
- 1989
- Leone De Castris, Pierluigi. Simone Martini: catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1989: 145.
- 1991
- De Benedictis, Cristina. "Lippo Memmi." In Enciclopedia dell’arte medievale. Edited by Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana. 12 vols. Rome, 1991-2002: 7(1996):735.
- 1996
- Maginnis, Hayden B. J. "Lippo Memmi." In The Dictionary of Art. 34 vols. Edited by Jane Turner. New York, 1996: 19:455.
- 1996
- Rowlands, Eliot W. The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: Italian Paintings, 1300-1800. Kansas City, MO, 1996: 36, 38.
- 1997
- Edmonds, Penelope. "A Technical Examination, Investigation, and Treatment of a fifteenth-Century Seinese Polychrome Terra-Cotta Relief." Studies in the History of Art 57 (1997): 68-69, fig. 3.
- 1998
- Frinta, Mojmír S. Punched Decoration on Late Medieval Panel and Miniature Painting. Prague, 1998: 93, 252, 311, 317, 321, 446, 488.
- 2002
- Franci, Beatrice. "Memmi, Lippo." In La pittura in Europa. Il Dizionario dei pittori. Edited by Carlo Pirovano. 3 vols. Milan, 2002: 2:591.
- 2003
- Leone De Castris, Pierluigi. Simone Martini. Milan, 2003: 181, 283.
- 2004
- Secrest, Meryle. Duveen: A Life in Art. New York, 2004: 458.
- 2009
- Bellosi, Luciano, et al., eds. La collezione Salini: dipinti, sculture e oreficerie dei secoli XII, XIII, XIV e XV. 4 vols. Florence, 2009, 20015: 1(2009):143.
- 2009
- Spannocchi, Sabina. "Lippo e Tederigo Memmi." in La Collegiata di San Gimignano, vol. 2, l’architettura, i cicli pittorici murali e i loro restauri. Edited by Alessandro Bagnoli. Siena, 2009: 452.
- 2016
- Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 215-221, color repro.
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