Overview
Both this panel of Ginevra Bentivoglio and the companion portrait of her husband, Giovanni II Bentivoglio, also in the National Gallery of Art, were created when the family was at the height of its power. Giovanni, a major political figure in northern Italy, ruled the city of Bologna from 1463 until his expulsion for tyranny in 1506. For the most part, Ginevra Bentivoglio is unemotional, and the lifeless gaze, masklike features, and impenetrable stare reveal little of the sitter's personality.
Renaissance profile portraits recalled the images of emperors and deities on the ancient Roman coins and medals that were so highly prized at the time. Moreover, the profile format, which isolates the sitter from the observer, was particularly appropriate to Giovanni's position as a strong-willed lord.
Ercole de' Roberti absorbed Francesco del Cossa's and Cosimo Tura's eccentric style; yet he was also aware of the meticulous realism of contemporary Flemish art, as is indicated by the lustrous pearls and gems so prominently displayed on Ginevra's sleeve. But the single most salient element in Ercole's style is his superior draftsmanship. An energetic yet nervous line describes the flowing contours of Ginevra's head, the swirling concentric rhythms of her hair, and the stiff, parallel folds of her kerchief.
Provenance
Acquired in Italy by Louis Charles Timbal [1821-1880], Paris, before 1871;[1] sold 29 November 1872 with his collection to Gustave Dreyfus [1837-1914], Paris;[2] his estate; sold 1930 with the entire Dreyfus collection to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold May 1936 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1939 to NGA.
Exhibition History
- 1940
- Italian Renaissance Portraits, M. Knoedler and Company, New York, 1940, no. 9, repro.
- 1979
- Berenson and the Coinnoisseurship of Italian Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1979, no. 55, repro.
- 2001
- Virtue and Beauty: Leonardo's 'Ginevra de' Benci' and Renaissance Portraits of Women, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2001-2002, no. 2B, color repro.
- 2015
- Loan for display with permanent collection, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2015.
Bibliography
- 1886
- Ephrussi, Charles. "Les Médailleurs de la Renaissance par M. Alöiss Heiss." Gazette des Beaux-Arts (1886): 72, repro.
- 1887
- Bode, Wilhelm von. "Die Ausbeute aus den Magazinen der Königlichen Gemäldegalerie zu Berlin." Jahrbuch der Königlish Preussischen Kunstsammlungen. 8 (1887):126
- 1888
- Gruyer, Gustave. "Les Livres a gravures sur bois." Gazette des Beaux-Arts (1888):428
- 1889
- Bode, Wilhelm von. "La Renaissance au Musée de Berlin." Gazette des Beaux-Arts (1889):117 as by Francesco del Cossa
- 1897
- Gruyer, Gustave. L'Art Ferrarais a l'époque des Princes d'Este. Paris, 1897:120, as by Francesco del Cossa.
- 1901
- Cook, Herbert. "Francesco Bianchi-Ferrar et la 'Madone' du Louvre." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 25 (1901):382, as Bianchi
- 1901
- Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell'Arte Italiana. 11 vols. Milan, 1901-1940: 7(1914): 653, repro,. as by Francesco del Cossa.
- 1902
- Cook, Herbert. "Trésors de l'art en Italien en Angleterre." Gazette des Beaux-Arts (1902):452-453, repro. as attributed to Bianchi.
- 1905
- Reinach, Salomon. Répertoire de peintures du moyen âge et de la Renaissance (1280-1580). 6 vols. Paris, 1905-1923: 3(1910):241, as by Francesco del Cossa.
- 1907
- Berenson, Bernard. North Italian Painters of the Renaissance. New York and London, 1907: 218, as by Maineri or possibly Bianchi.
- 1908
- Les Arts 73 (January 1908):10, repro., as by Francesco del Cossa.
- 1915
- Cook, Herbert. "Further Light on Baldassare d'Este." The Burlington Magazine 27 (1915):98+ as by Baldassare d'Este
- 1918
- Colasanti, Arduino. "The Presumed Portrait of Giovanni Bentivoglio in the Boston Museum". Art in America 6 (1918): 90, mention as by follower of Francesco del Cossa
- 1925
- "La collection Gustave Dreyfus." L'Amour de l'art (1925):331, repro., as by Francesco del Cossa
- 1930
- International Studio (August 1930): 65
- 1931
- Mayer, August L. "Die Sammlung Gustave Dreyfus." Pantheon 7 (1931):11, repro.
- 1933
- Venturi, Lionello. Italian Paintings in America. 3 vols. New York and Milan, 1933: 2:352, as by Francesco del Cossa.
- 1934
- Longhi, Roberto. Officina Ferrarese. Rome, 1934: 75, repro.; rev. ed. Florence, 1956: 46-47, repro.
- 1937
- Ady, Cecilia M. The Bentivoglio of Bologna: A Study in Depotism. Oxford, 1937:repro.
- 1940
- Suida, Wilhelm. "Die Sammlung Kress, New York." Pantheon 26 (1940): 273, repro.
- 1941
- Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 64, repro., as by Francesco Cossa.
- 1941
- Ortolani, Sergio. Cosmè Tura, Francesco del Cossa, Ercole de'Roberti. Milan, 1941:158, repro.
- 1941
- Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 170, no. 331.
- 1941
- Richter, George Martin. "The New National Gallery in Washington." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 78 (June 1941): 178.
- 1942
- Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 246, repro. 179.
- 1944
- Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 56, color repro.
- 1944
- Frankfurter, Alfred M. The Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1944: 33, repro.
- 1945
- Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 81, repro.
- 1945
- Shapley, Fern Rusk. "A Portrait of Francesco Sforza." The Art Quarterly 8 (Winter 1945): 37.
- 1951
- Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 50-53, repro.
- 1957
- Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 60.
- 1959
- Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 119, repro.
- 1959
- Ruhmer, Eberhard. Francesco Del Cossa. Munich, 1959:93, repro.
- 1960
- Salmi, Mario. Ercole de' Roberti. Milan, 1960:19, repro.
- 1961
- Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 48, color repro. pl. 44.
- 1963
- Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 90, repro.
- 1964
- Ruhmer, Eberhard. "Ein Madonnenbild nach Francesco del Cossa." Pantheon XII, no. 2 (March/April 1964):79, repro.
- 1965
- Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 115.
- 1966
- Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:66, color repro.
- 1966
- Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 86-87, fig. 233.
- 1968
- National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 103, repro.
- 1974
- Molajoli, Rosemarie. L'Opera completa di Cosmè Tura e i grandi pittori ferraresi del suo tempo: Francesco Cossa e Ercole de'Roberti. Milan, 1974:no. 124, repro.
- 1975
- European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 306, repro.
- 1978
- Sleptzoff, L.M. Men or Supermen? The Italian Portrait in the Fifteenth Century. Jerusalem, 1978:61-62
- 1979
- Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:406-407; 2:pl. 289.
- 1984
- Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 112, no. 89, color repro.
- 1985
- European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 353, repro.
- 1992
- Manca, Joseph. The Art of Ercole de’ Roberti. Cambridge, 1992: 11, 21, 34-35, 104-106, fig. 5a.
- 1992
- National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 21, repro.
- 2003
- Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 603-607, color repro.
- 2004
- Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 27, color fig. 21.
- 2008
- Trevisani, Filippo and Davide Gasparotto, eds. Bonacolsi, l'Antico: uno scultore nella Mantova di Andrea Mantegna e di Isabella d'Este. Exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale, Mantua. Milan, 2008: 228, VI.6.
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