Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Descent into Limbo [right panel]

1380s

Andrea di Vanni

Artist, Sienese, c. 1330 - 1413

Andrea Vanni

A bearded man, Jesus, strides from under an archway across a wooden door that lies flat along the ground as it pins and crushes a black beast in this vertical, framed panel. A crowd of people huddle inside the rocky cave, and everyone has pale skin faintly tinged with green. Jesus wears a bright, gold-patterned cloth draped over one shoulder and around his body. He holds a tall pole with a flag with a red cross on a white field with his left hand. His other clasps hands with an elderly man with gray hair and long white beard. Behind the elder man, a crowd of men and women kneel in front of the opening of a craggy cave. One man holds a scroll with black letters that reads, “ECCE ANGIUS.” Another bearded man floats above holding a scroll that reads, “DESTRUXIT QUIDAM MORTES INFERNI ET SUBVERTIT POTENTIAS DIABOLI.” Above the scene, an architectural arch and tracery is created in low relief in gold against the gold-leaf background. The gold frame has inset bands of lapis blue with scrolling, leafy designs in gold above and below the central scene.

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Between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, Jesus is said to have descended into the realm of the dead where he liberated the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets. This event, known as the Decent into Limbo, is represented here on the right wing of a triptych by Andrea di Vanni. In Andrea’s interpretation, Christ the Redeemer has descended victoriously into hell, where he has demolished the gateway and crushed the devil beneath it.

The deep, saturated hues of red, yellow, and blue create rhythmic alternations of color that play against the gold backgrounds and halos to animate the scenes. Such dazzling effects accentuate the dramatic gestures of the figures, whose robust, naturalistic forms are carefully organized to express compelling human emotion and facilitate narrative legibility. The exquisite miniaturist quality of execution, dynamic use of space, and construction of depth exemplify a skillful conflation of elements derived from the previous generation of Sienese painters, particularly Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers.

The altarpiece to which this panel belongs is comprised of three panels attached by hinges. The flanking panels can be folded over the central painting to protect it and facilitate transportation. As a portable altarpiece, Andrea’s triptych may have been intended for a small chapel or domestic interior where it could be displayed or concealed according to its owner’s requirements.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 3

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    tempera on panel

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection)

  • Dimensions

    painted surface: 47.2 × 25 cm (18 9/16 × 9 13/16 in.)
    overall: 56.7 × 29.2 × 3.3 cm (22 5/16 × 11 1/2 × 1 5/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2014.79.711.c

Associated Artworks

A square panel flanked by two tall, rectangular panels all have gold frames and shimmering gold backgrounds behind groups of people, all of whom have light skin. On the square, central panel, three men hang on wooden crosses above people crowded below. The crucified men wear only white cloths across their hips and their skin has a green cast. A halo encircles the bent head of the man on the middle cross, Jesus, who wears a ring of thorns in his long, red hair. Blood trickles down his forehead and drips from nails driven through his hands and overlapped feet, and from a gash over his right ribs, to our left. Four miniature, winged angels are painted entirely in tones of dark, cobalt blue, and they fly in pairs on either side of his body. A panel at the top of the cross reads “INRI” in gold letters against a red field. The other two crosses are spaced evenly to either side. The men are tied with their elbows hooked unnaturally back over the crossbeams, and wounds on their broken shins pour blood. The man to our left tilts his head up as one small, golden angel touches the back of his head and the other lifts a miniature version of the man from his parted lips. To our right, the man’s eyes roll back and his mouth gapes open as two black, winged creatures like dragons fly overhead. In the bottom left corner, a group of four women cluster around a recumbent woman with long blond hair wearing a blue cloak. In the right corner, a group of three men tug at a blue tunic, as they draw straws from one man’s fist. Other men and women, a few with gold halos, cluster at the foot of the crosses, wearing robes and armor in shades of buttercup yellow, coral and brick red, light and lapis blue, and brown. The left tall, rectangular panel shows a haloed man, Jesus again, kneeling on a flat rock above a stylized garden. Hands crossed over his chest, he looks up in profile facing our left at a small angel with a red gown and wings offering a chalice. Closer to us, Jesus appears for a second time in this panel, greeting a bearded man wearing blue and golden yellow as two others sleep behind them. All four have halos. On a hill beyond the garden, to our left, a group of men holding long spears and tall shields chase a man with a black halo. In the right panel, Jesus strides from under an archway across a wooden door that lies flat along the ground as it pins and crushes a black beast. Jesus wears a bright, gold-patterned cloth draped over one shoulder and around his body. He holds a tall pole with a flag with a red cross on a white field with his left hand. His other clasps hands with an elderly man with gray hair and long white beard. Behind the elder man, a crowd of men and women kneel in front of the opening of a craggy cave. One man holds a scroll with black letters that reads, “ECCE ANGIUS.” Another bearded man floats above holding a scroll that reads, “DESTRUXIT QUIDAM MORTES INFERNI ET SUBVERTIT POTENTIAS DIABOLI.” Gold frames around all three panels, which are attached with hinges, have an inset band of lapis blue with a scrolling, leafy design in gold. Above each scene, architectural arches and tracery is created in low relief in gold against the gold-leaf background. In the lower center of central panel, in the blue band, the work is signed, “ANDREAS UANNIS DE SENIS ME PINXIT.”

Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Agony in the Garden, the Crucifixion, and the Descent into Limbo [entire triptych]

Andrea di Vanni

1380

Three men hang on wooden crosses above people crowded below in this square panel painting. The crucified men wear only white cloths across their hips, and their pale skin has a noticably green cast. A halo encircles the bent head of the man on the middle cross, Jesus, who wears a ring of thorns in his long, red hair. Blood trickles down his forehead and drips from nails driven through his hands and overlapped feet, and from a gash over his right ribs, to our left. Four miniature, winged angels are painted entirely in tones of dark cobalt blue fly in pairs on either side of his body. An inscription over the top of the cross reads “INRI” in gold letters against a red field. The other two crosses are spaced evenly to either side. The men are tied with their elbows hooked unnaturally back over the crossbeams and wounds on their broken shins pour blood. The man to our left tilts his head up as one small, golden angel touches the back of his head and the other lifts a miniature version of the man from his parted lips. To our right, the man’s eyes roll back and his mouth gapes open as two black, winged creatures like dragons fly overhead. In the bottom left corner, a group of four women comfort a recumbent woman with long blond hair wearing a blue cloak. In the right corner, a group of three men tug at a blue tunic, as they draw straws from one man’s fist. Other men and women, a few with gold halos, cluster at the feet of the crosses, wearing robes and armor in shades of buttercup yellow, coral and brick red, light and lapis blue, and brown. The panel is in a gold frame inset with a band of lapis blue with a scrolling, leafy design in gold.

Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Crucifixion [middle panel]

Andrea di Vanni

1380

On a ledge-like rocky outcropping, a man kneels and looks up at an angel while, below and closer to us, three people sit or lie near the same man, who is shown twice in this vertical painting. The people have light skin with a greenish cast, though their cheeks are flushed, and they have flat, gold halos around their heads. In both appearances, Jesus has long, wavy, amber-blond hair, a beard, and a long straight nose. He wears a lapis-blue robe under a rose-pink cloak, which are edged in gold. Closest to us, he stands near the lower left corner of the composition, facing our right almost in profile. He holds one hand to his chest and with the other, clasps the hand of a man kneeling in front of him. That man, Saint Peter, wears a sky-blue robe and a canary-yellow cloak, and he has a gray beard and hair. His brows are lowered and furrowed as he reaches for and looks up at Jesus. Between Jesus and Saint Peter, a cleanshaven young man, also with blond hair, sleeps sitting up with his head propped on one hand. He wears a sage-green robe under a sky-blue cloak. Another man lies on his stomach beyond the others, so his head, resting on his folded arms, nearly reaches the right edge of the panel. He wears the same blue and pink of Jesus, and also has blond hair. Beyond this trio, a garden separates the four men close to us from the kneeling Jesus above. The garden has a hedge of pale pink roses, two small trees with red flowers, and rows of vegetation painted with pine green. That second, kneeling Jesus folds his arms across his chest, and his face and neck are dotted with touches of scarlet red. He looks up at a miniature winged angel, whose robe and wings are marigold orange. The angel holds out a golden chalice, which blends into the shiny gold background behind the people. Beyond the mount with the kneeling Jesus, a steep, narrow, charcoal-gray hill rises in the distance, to our left. About a dozen soldiers carrying lances and shields, on horseback and on foot, ride or walk from a fortified castle. A man with a dark halo, wearing a red robe and gray cloak, walks near the front of the line. The panel comes to a pointed arch at the top, and the corners are filled with raised vines and flowers, also painted gold.

Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Agony in the Garden [left panel]

Andrea di Vanni

1380

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries: Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Descent into Limbo [right panel], 1380s

This horizontal painting is made up of three parts: in the center square panel, a woman reclines under a wooden shelter set into a rocky cave, which is surrounded by angels, and narrower wings to either side are each occupied by a standing man. All the people have pale skin, which is tinged with faint green. The three panels are joined with a gold frame, and the gold background behind the central scene and the men in the side panels are covered with a noticeable network of cracks. In the central panel, a cobalt-blue robe nearly envelopes the reclining woman’s body; this is Mary. It covers her head and falls open where she crosses her wrists over her chest to show a pink garment underneath. A flat gold halo encircles her head ,and her body is surrounded by a field of crimson red, almost like an aura. She rests under a wooden structure with a pitched roof, which is surrounded by craggy, barren rock. A swaddled infant lies in a rectangular, tray-like manger. The infant’s head is also surrounded by a gold halo. Fine gold rays emanate down into the structure from a star just above the peak of the roof. A bull and a donkey look down at the baby from the far side of the manger. The interior of the structure behind them is black. In a smaller scale, two women wash a haloed infant in a tub in front of the rocky cave near the lower left corner of this panel. A man with a white beard and hair sits to our left of Mary, holding a pink cloak at his throat and looking toward the infant. Above and around the rocks, seven winged and haloed angels cluster on each side. One angel to the right presents a scroll with black writing to two men accompanied by a dog and several sheep in the lower right. The man in the panel to the left, Isaiah, has a gray beard and long, wavy hair, and he wears a lilac-purple cloak draped over a coral-orange robe. In his right hand, on our left, he holds an unfurled scroll with large black lettering. His other hand is raised with one finger pointing upward. He looks to our left, away from the central scene. On the right, Ezekiel, echoes Isaiah's pose. Ezekiel holds an open scroll with his left hand, on our right, and his other hand is raised. He also wears a coral-colored robe, but his is overlaid with a blue cloak. His receding hair is short and brown, as is his beard. Like Isaiah, he takes up most of the height of the panel and gazes to our left, toward the central panel.

Scholarly Series:  Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

William Andrews Clark [1839-1925], New York, by 1919; bequest 1926 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1959

  • Loan Exhibition. Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art: A Benefit Exhibition in Honor of the Gallery's Centenary, Wildenstein, New York, 1959, unnumbered catalogue, repro., as Portable Altarpiece.

1978

  • The William A. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978, fig. 27.

2002

  • Antiquities to Impressionism: The William A. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1921

  • Perkins, F. Mason, "A Triptych by Andrea di Vanni." Art in America 9, no. 5 (August 1921): 180-188, repro.

1923

  • Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 2(1924):443-445, repros.

1925

  • Carroll, Dana H. Catalogue of Objects of Fine Art and Other Properties at the Home of William Andrews Clark, 962 Fifth Avenue. Part I. Unpublished manuscript, n.d. (1925): 127, no. 58.

1927

  • Offner, Richard. Studies in Florentine Painting: The Fourteenth Century. New York, 1927: 78.

1932

  • Corcoran Gallery of Art. Illustrated Handbook of the W.A. Clark Collection. Washington, 1932: 59, no. 2181.

  • Edgell, George Harold. A History of Sienese Painting. New York, 1932: 172–173, fig. 224.

1939

  • Pope-Hennessy, John. “Notes on Andrea Vanni.” The Burlington Magazine for
    Connoisseurs    . 74, no. 431 (1939): 97.

1943

  • Pope-Hennessy, John. "A Madonna by Andrea Vanni." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 83, no. 484 (1943): 174.

1952

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Painters of the Renaissance. 3rd edition. Oxford, 1952: 268.

1955

  • Carli, Enzo. La pittura senese. Milan, 1955: 154-158.

1959

  • Corcoran Gallery of Art. Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1959: 8-9, repro.

1960

  • Francisci Osti, Ornella. “Andrea Vanni.” In Dizionario biografico degli italiani. Edited by Alberto Maria Ghisalberti. 82+ vols. Rome, 1960+: 3(1961): 122–124.

1966

  • White, John. Art and Architecture in Italy, 1250 to 1400. Baltimore, 1966: 365.

1968

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:442.

1969

  • Bologna, Ferdinando. I pittori alla corte angioina di Napoli, 1266-1414, e un riesame dell’arte nell’età fridericiana. Rome, 1969: 325-326.

1978

  • Brown, David Alan. “Andrea Vanni in the Corcoran Gallery.” In The William A. Clark Collection: An Exhibition Marking the 50th Anniversary of the Installation of the Clark Collection at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington. Exh. cat. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1978: 32–37.

  • Wainwright, Valerie Linda. "Andrea Vanni and Bartolo di Fredi: Sienese Painters in their Social Context." Ph.D. dissertation. University of London, University College, 1978: 145–146.

1979

  • Fleming, Lee. “Washington: A Guide to the Arts.” Portfolio (June/July 1979): 90, repro. 91

1981

  • Worthen, Thomas Fletcher. "The Harrowing of Hell in the Art of the Italian Renaissance." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Iowa, Ames, 1981: 102-104, 386 n. 29, 387 n. 31, fig. 49.

1982

  • Il gotico a Siena: miniature, pitture, oreficerie, oggetti d’arte. Exh. cat. Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Florence, 1982: 287

1993

  • Gagliardi, Jacques. La conquête de la peinture: L’Europe des ateliers du XIIIe au XVe siècle. Paris, 1993: 106.

1996

  • Wainwright, Valerie. “Andrea (di) Vanni (d’Andrea Salvani).” In The Dictionary of Art. Edited by Jane Turner. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 2:21.

2001

  • Coyle, Laura, and Dare Myers Hartwell, eds. Antiquities to Impressionism: The William A. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, DC, 2001: 53, repro.

2002

  • Heartney, Eleanor, ed. A Capital Collection: Masterworks from the Corcoran Gallery of Art. London, 2002: 90.

2005

  • Schmidt, Victor M. Painted Piety: Panel Paintings for Personal Devotion in Tuscany, 1250-1400. Florence, 2005: 193, repro. 196, 203 n. 92.

2016

  • Paolucci, Antonio, et al, eds. Piero della Francesca: Indagine su un mito. Exh. cat. Museo San Domenico, Forlì, 2016: 82.

Inscriptions

in black paint on the scroll held by God the Father: Destruxit quidam mortes inferni / et subvertit potentias diaboli; in black paint on the scroll held by Saint John the Baptist: ECCE.ANGIUS[AGNUS]. (Behold the Lamb)

Wikidata ID

Q46624313

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