Click on any panel in the altarpiece reconstruction below to see an enlarged version of the image. Color reproductions in the reconstruction indicate panels in the National Gallery of Art collection.
Overview
This image, along with
The young
Until the late 1980s, Grifo’s identity was unknown. His works had been mostly collected in a group of paintings related to the San Gaggio altarpiece (Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence) assigned to the “Master of San Gaggio,” but a single, difficult-to-read inscription on one of these paintings was deciphered and Grifo was saved from anonymity.
Entry
Up until the mid-nineteenth century, this panel and its two companions (
Artaud de Montor probably acquired the National Gallery of Art’s panels in Italy in the later years of the eighteenth or early years of the nineteenth century. They came to him accompanied by the attribution (wholly unjustified) to “Margaritone d’Arezzo,” with which they were later illustrated in the successive catalogs of his collection (1808, 1811, 1843).
An aid for solving the problem of dating may come from the panel that gave its name to the painter, namely the Maestà now in the Accademia. This is not dated, but some clues suggest that it was executed in the early years of the fourteenth century.
If the San Gaggio altarpiece in the Accademia belongs, as I believe, to the first decade of the fourteenth century, a similar dating may also apply to the former Artaud de Montor panels. The two share close affinities. Among the saints in the Florentine Maestà, the Baptist in particular is almost a replica of the image of the same saint in the painting now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chambéry, but the Saint Peter
Miklós Boskovits (1935–2011)
March 21, 2016
Provenance
By 1808 in the collection of Alexis-François Artaud de Montor [1772-1849], Paris, who probably purchased the panels during one of his several periods of residence in Italy;[1] (his estate sale, Seigneur and Schroth at Hotel des Ventes Mobilières, Paris, 16-17 January 1851, nos. 35, 36, and 39 [with 1937.1.2.b and .c, as by Margaritone d’Arezzo]); Julien Gréau [1810-1895], Troyes; by inheritance to his daughter, Marie, comtesse Bertrand de Broussillion, Paris;[2] purchased September 1919 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., Paris, New York, and London);[3] Carl W. Hamilton [1886-1967], New York, by 1920;[4] returned to (Duveen Brothers, Inc.); sold 15 December 1936 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[5] gift 1937 to NGA.
Exhibition History
- 1920
- Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1920, unnumbered catalogue.
- 1924
- Loan Exhibition of Important Early Italian Paintings in the Possession of Notable American Collectors, Duveen Brothers, New York, 1924, no. 2, as by Giovanni Cimabue (no. 1 in illustrated 1926 version of catalogue).
- 1935
- Exposition de L'Art Italien de Cimabue à Tiepolo, Petit Palais, Paris, 1935, no. 110.
- 1979
- Berenson and the Connoisseurship of Italian Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1979, no. 81.
- 2014
- La fortuna dei primitivi: Tesori d’arte dalle collezioni italiane fra Sette e Ottocento [The Fortunes of the Primitives: Artistic Treasures from Italian Collections between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries], Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, 2014, no. 79a, repro.
Technical Summary
The wooden supports of this work and
The panels are generally in fine condition, but with many small,
Bibliography
- 1808
- Artaud de Montor, Alexis-François. Considérations sur l’état de la peinture en Italie, dans les quatre siècles qui ont précédé celui de Raphaël: par un membre de l’académie de Cortone. Ouvrage servant de catalogue raisonné à une collection de tableaux des XIIe, XIIIe, XIVe et XVe siècles. Paris, 1808: no. 31.
- 1811
- Artaud de Montor, Alexis-François. Considérations sur l’état de la peinture en Italie, dans les quatre siècles qui ont précédé celui de Raphaël, par un membre de l’Académie de Cortone (Artaud de Montor). Ouvrage servant de catalogue raisonné à une collection de tableaux des XIIe, XIIIe, XIVe et XVe siècles. Paris, 1811: no. 36.
- 1843
- Artaud de Montor, Alexis-François. Peintres primitifs: collection de tableaux rapportée d’Italie. Paris, 1843: no. 36.
- 1920
- Berenson, Bernard. "A Newly Discovered Cimabue." Art in America 8 (1920): 251-271, repro. 250.
- 1920
- Berenson, Bernard. "Italian Paintings." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 15 (1920): 159-160, repro.
- 1920
- Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition. Loans and Special Features. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1920: 8.
- 1920
- Robinson, Edward. "The Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 15 (1920): 75.
- 1922
- Sirén, Osvald. Toskanische Maler im XIII. Jahrhundert. Berlin, 1922: 299-301, pl. 114.
- 1923
- Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 1(1923):476, 574; 5(1925):442, fig. 262.
- 1924
- Loan Exhibition of Important Early Italian Paintings in the Possession of Notable American Collectors. Exh. cat. Duveen Brothers, New York, 1924: no. 2.
- 1924
- Offner, Richard. "A Remarkable Exhibition of Italian Paintings." The Arts 5 (1924): 241 (repro.), 244.
- 1924
- Vitzthum, Georg Graf, and Wolgang Fritz Volbach. Die Malerei und Plastik des Mittelalters in Italien. Handbuch der Kunstwissenschaft 1. Wildpark-Potsdam, 1924: 249-250.
- 1926
- Valentiner, Wilhelm R. A Catalogue of Early Italian Paintings Exhibited at the Duveen Galleries, April to May 1924. New York, 1926: n.p., no. 1, repro.
- 1927
- Toesca, Pietro. Il Medioevo. 2 vols. Storia dell’arte italiana, 1. Turin, 1927: 2:1040 n. 48.
- 1930
- Berenson, Bernard. Studies in Medieval Painting. New Haven, 1930: 17-31, fig. 14.
- 1931
- Fry, Roger. "Mr Berenson on Medieval Painting." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 58, no. 338 (1931): 245.
- 1931
- Venturi, Lionello. Pitture italiane in America. Milan, 1931: no. 8, repro.
- 1932
- Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works with an Index of Places. Oxford, 1932: 150.
- 1932
- Marle, Raimond van. Le scuole della pittura italiana. 2 vols. The Hague and Florence, 1932-1934: 1(1932):495-496, fig. 321.
- 1932
- Nicholson, Alfred. Cimabue: A Critical Study. Princeton, 1932: 59.
- 1933
- Venturi, Lionello. Italian Paintings in America. Translated by Countess Vanden Heuvel and Charles Marriott. 3 vols. New York and Milan, 1933: 1:no. 10, repro.
- 1935
- Escholier, Raymond, Ugo Ojetti, Paul Jamot, and Paul Valéry. Exposition de l’art italien de Cimabue à Tiepolo. Exh. cat. Musée du Petit Palais. Paris, 1935: 51.
- 1935
- Muratov, Pavel P., and Jean Chuzeville. La peinture byzantine. Paris, 1935: 143.
- 1935
- Salmi, Mario. "Per il completamento di un politico cimabuesco." Rivista d’arte 17 (1935): 113-120, repro. 115.
- 1935
- Serra, Luigi. "La mostra dell’antica arte italiana a Parigi: la pittura." Bollettino d’arte 29 (1935-1936): 31, repro. 33.
- 1936
- Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimento: catalogo dei principali artisti e delle loro opere con un indice dei luoghi. Translated by Emilio Cecchi. Milan, 1936: 129.
- 1937
- "The Mellon Gift. A First Official List." Art News 35 (20 March 1937): 15.
- 1941
- Coletti, Luigi. I Primitivi. 3 vols. Novara, 1941-1947: 1(1941):37.
- 1941
- Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 4, repro., as by Cimabue.
- 1941
- Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 41, no. 2, as by Cimabue.
- 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. 85, as by Cimabue.
- 1943
- Sinibaldi, Giulia, and Giulia Brunetti, eds. Pittura italiana del Duecento e Trecento: catalogo della mostra giottesca di Firenze del 1937. Exh. cat. Galleria degli Uffizi. Florence, 1943: 277.
- 1946
- Salvini, Roberto. Cimabue. Rome, 1946: 23.
- 1947
- Offner, Richard. A Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting. The Fourteenth Century. Sec. III, Vol. V: Master of San Martino alla Palma; Assistant of Daddi; Master of the Fabriano Altarpiece. New York, 1947: 216 n. 1.
- 1948
- Longhi, Roberto. "Giudizio sul Duecento." Proporzioni 2 (1948): 19, 47, fig. 37.
- 1948
- Pope-Hennessy, John. "Review of Proporzioni II by Roberto Longhi." The Burlington Magazine 90 (1948): 360.
- 1949
- Carli, Enzo. "Cimabue." In Enciclopedia Cattolica. 12 vols. Vatican City, 1949-1954: 3(1949):1614, repro.
- 1949
- Garrison, Edward B. Italian Romanesque Panel Painting: An Illustrated Index. Florence, 1949: 172-173, repro.
- 1949
- Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 5, repro.
- 1951
- Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 16-18, repro., as by Cimabue.
- 1951
- Galetti, Ugo, and Ettore Camesasca. Enciclopedia della pittura italiana. 3 vols. Milan, 1951: 1:642; 2:1486.
- 1955
- Ragghianti, Carlo Ludovico. Pittura del Dugento a Firenze. Florence, 1955: 127, fig. 186.
- 1956
- Laclotte, Michel. De Giotto à Bellini: les primitifs italiens dans les musées de France. Exh. cat. Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, 1956: 15.
- 1956
- Samek Ludovici, Sergio. Cimabue. Milan, 1956: 42-44, 48.
- 1958
- Marcucci, Luisa. Gallerie nazionali di Firenze. Vol. 1, I dipinti toscani del secolo XIII. Rome, 1958: 56.
- 1958
- Salvini, Roberto. "Cimabue." In Enciclopedia Universale dell’Arte. Edited by Istituto per la collaborazione culturale. 15 vols. Florence, 1958-1967: 3(1960):473.
- 1960
- Boskovits, Miklós. "Cenni di Pepe (Pepo), detto Cimabue." In Dizionario biografico degli italiani. Edited by Alberto Maria Ghisalberti. 82+ vols. Rome, 1960+: 23(1979):542.
- 1960
- Le Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chambéry. Chambéry, 1960: n.p., fig. 15.
- 1961
- Longhi, Roberto. "Giudizio sul Duecento (1948)." In Edizione delle opere complete di Roberto Longhi. 14 vols. Florence, 1961-1984: 7(1974):14, 44, pl. 36.
- 1962
- Hager, Hellmut. Die Anfänge des italienischen Altarbildes. Untersuchungen zur Entstehungsgechichte des toskanischen Hochaltarretabels. Munich, 1962: 111-112.
- 1963
- Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Florentine School. 2 vols. London, 1963: 1:50, fig. 4.
- 1963
- Longhi, Roberto. "In traccia di alcuni anonimi trecentisti." Paragone 14 (1963): 10.
- 1963
- Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 297, repro., as by Cimabue.
- 1964
- Previtali, Giovanni. La fortuna dei primitivi: dal Vasari ai neoclassici. Turin, 1964: 232.
- 1965
- Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 28.
- 1967
- Previtali, Giovanni. Giotto e la sua bottega. Milan, 1967: 26.
- 1967
- Salmi, Mario. "La donazione Contini Bonacossi." Bollettino d’arte 52 (1967): 223, 231 n. 1.
- 1968
- National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 21, repro.
- 1969
- Volpe, Carlo. "La formazione di Giotto nella cultura di Assisi." In Giotto e i giotteschi in Assisi. Rome, 1969: 38.
- 1972
- Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 54, 403, 440, 645.
- 1974
- Previtali, Giovanni. Giotto e la sua bottega. 2nd ed. Milan, 1974: 26.
- 1975
- European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 70, repro., as Attributed to Cimabue.
- 1976
- Fowles, Edward. Memories of Duveen Brothers. London, 1976: 116.
- 1979
- Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:134-135; 2:pl. 94.
- 1982
- Pietralunga, Fra Ludovico da, and Pietro Scarpellini (intro. and comm.). Descrizione della Basilica di S. Francesco e di altri Santuari di Assisi. Treviso, 1982: 416.
- 1985
- European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 90, repro.
- 1986
- Guerrini, Alessandra. "Maestro di San Gaggio." In La Pittura in Italia. Il Duecento e il Trecento. Edited by Enrico Castelnuovo. 2 vols. Milan, 1986: 2:625.
- 1986
- Simpson, Colin. Artful Partners: Bernard Berenson and Joseph Duveen. New York, 1986: 199.
- 1987
- Marques, Luiz. La peinture du Duecento en Italie centrale. Paris, 1987: 202, 286, fig. 253.
- 1990
- Damian, Véronique, and Jean-Claude Giroud. Peintures florentines. Collections du Musée de Chambéry. Chambéry, 1990: 23, 66-67.
- 1990
- Tartuferi, Angelo. La pittura a Firenze nel Duecento. Florence, 1990: 63, 109.
- 1992
- Chiodo, Sonia. "Grifo di Tancredi." In Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon: Die bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker. Edited by Günter Meissner. 87+ vols. Munich and Leipzig, 1992+: 62(2009):129.
- 1993
- Boskovits, Miklós. A Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting. Sec. I, Vol. I: The Origins of Florentine Painting, 1100–1270. Florence, 1993: 732 n. 1, 809.
- 1993
- Previtali, Giovanni, and Giovanna Ragionieri. Giotto e la sua bottega. Edited by Alessandro Conti. 3rd ed. Milan, 1993: 36.
- 1996
- "Artaud de Montor, Jean Alex Francis." In The Dictionary of Art. Edited by Jane Turner. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 2:514.
- 1998
- Bellosi, Luciano. Cimabue. Edited by Giovanna Ragionieri. 1st ed. Milan, 1998: 287, 289.
- 1998
- Frinta, Mojmír S. Punched Decoration on Late Medieval Panel and Miniature Painting. Prague, 1998: 442, 443.
- 1999
- Bagemihl, Rolf. "Some Thoughts About Grifo di Tancredi of Florence and a Little-Known Panel at Volterra." Arte cristiana 87 (1999): 413-414.
- 2001
- Offner, Richard, Miklós Boskovits, Ada Labriola, and Martina Ingendaay Rodio. A Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting. The Fourteenth Century. Sec. III, Vol. V: Master of San Martino alla Palma; Assistant of Daddi; Master of the Fabriano Altarpiece. 2nd ed. Florence, 2001: 472 n. 1.
- 2002
- Tartuferi, Angelo. "Grifo di Tancredi." In Dizionario biografico degli italiani. Edited by Alberto Maria Ghisalberti. 82+ vols. Rome, 1960+: 59(2002):398.
- 2004
- Bellosi, Luciano. "La lezione di Giotto." in Storia delle arti in Toscana. Il Trecento. Edited by Max Seidel. Florence, 2004: 96.
- 2004
- Secrest, Meryle. Duveen: A Life in Art. New York, 2004: 422.
- 2004
- Staderini, Andrea. "Un contesto per la collezione di ‘primitivi’ di Alexis-François Artaud de Montor (1772-1849)." Proporzioni 5 (2004): 38.
- 2005
- Leone De Castris, Pierluigi. "Montano d’Arezzo a San Lorenzo." In Le chiese di San Lorenzo e San Domenico: gli ordini mendicanti a Napoli. Edited by Serena Romano and Nicolas Bock. Naples, 2005: 109.
- 2007
- Bellosi, Luciano, and Giovanna Ragionieri. Giotto e la sua eredità: Filippo Rusuti, Pietro Cavallini, Duccio, Giovanni da Rimini, Neri da Rimini, Pietro da Rimini, Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti, Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Matteo Giovannetti, Masso di Banco, Puccio Capanna, Taddeo Gaddi, Giovanni da Milano, Giottino, Giusto de’Menabuoi, Altichiero, Jacopo Avanzi, Jean Pucelle, i Fratelli Limbourg. Florence, 2007: 68, fig. 42.
- 2014
- Tartuferi, Angelo, and Gianluca Tormen. La fortuna dei primitivi: Tesori d’arte dalle collezioni italiane fra Sette e Ottocento. Exh. cat. Galleria dell’Accademia. Florence, 2014: 427-429, repros.
- 2016
- Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 177-188, color repro.
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Altarpiece Reconstruction

Reconstruction of a dispersed polyptych by Grifo di Tancredi
a.
b. Saint John the Baptist (Entry fig. 2)
c.
d.
e. After Grifo di Tancredi, line drawing of a lost image of Saint Ursula