Four Scenes from the First Book of Samuel

late 11th century

Italian 11th Century

Associated Names
Italian 11th Century

Artist

This is a painted manuscript page featuring people in robes and cloaks engaged in various actions. The top section shows two kneeling people, a man and a woman, facing the right, towards a bearded man crouching near a tall tower or building. The middle portion is similar, although the two people are standing instead of kneeling, and man seems to hold a child. The bearded man on the right is also standing, but his face and body are obscured by damage to the page. The bottom part shows three smaller people on the left, one of them with a halo, next to a large man lying on the right, wearing armor and a helmet. The paintings are in shades of bright red, blue, pale yellow, and brown. Red text seems to identify the different people and scenes. The pigment has worn away in some places, and text from the other side of the page appears to bleed through into this side.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    miniature on vellum

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 41.4 x 27.3 cm (16 5/16 x 10 3/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1950.16.289

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    NGA Miniatures 1975, no. 1

  • Series Title

    Leaf from a Giant Bible

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1950

  • Rosenwald Collection: An Exhibition of Recent Acquisitions, NGA, 1950, no. 1, repro.

1953

  • Mediaeval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts, Los Angeles County Museum, 1953-1954, no. 8.

1960

  • Art of the Romanesque, University Art Gallery, University of Notre Dame, IN, 1960-1961, no. 5, repro.

1965

  • Of Time and the Image: Three Periods of Change, Philadelphia College of Art, 1965-1966, no. 20 (as Hannah and Elkanah).

1971

  • A Selection of X-Xv Century Medieval Miniatures from the National Gallery of Art Rosenwald Collection, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, 1971, no. 1.

1975

  • Medieval and Renaissance Miniatures from the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1975, no. 1, repro.

Bibliography

n.d.

  • Mm. Mensing et fils (Frederik Muller & Cie), Catalogue d'une collection de manuscrits à miniatures des IXe-XVe siècles; collection d'un amateur suisse [Sale Catalogue, Nov. 22, 1929]

1975

  • National Gallery of Art. Medieval and Renaissance Miniatures from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1975: no. 1.

1997

  • Richler, Martha. National Gallery of Art, Washington: A World of Art. London, 1997: 8-13, color figs. 1 and 2.

Wikidata ID

Q64578939

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