Saint Ursula with Two Angels and Donor

c. 1455/1460

Benozzo Gozzoli

Artist, Florentine, c. 1421 - 1497

Benozzo Gozzoli

Attributed to

A person holding a flag, Saint Ursula, stands in front of a cloth held up by two winged angels as a fourth person, much smaller in scale, kneels in the lower right corner in this vertical painting. All the people have pale skin. Saint Ursula and the angels have blond hair, rosy cheeks, delicate features, flat gold halos, and they wear leaf-green garments. Saint Ursula stands with her body facing us but she turns to look off to our right and slightly down. A raspberry-red cloak lined with white, perhaps fur, is draped across her shoulders. She holds a bunch of that fabric with her left hand, to our right, and holds the staff with a white standard marked with a red cross with her other. Text around her halo reads, “SANCTA VREVLA VIRGO.” The angels above have red wings and the word “ANGELVS” appears in each halo. The fabric they hold up is forest-green decorated with gold, foliate designs, and the space behind them is lined with thin white clouds against a vivid blue sky. Near the lower right corner of the composition, a person about a half the size of Saint Ursula kneels and wears a dark gray head covering, white cloth covering her chin and neck, and a grayish-brown robe. She faces our left in profile and presses her hands together in prayer. The floor below is loosely swirled with light brown, pink, and blue. Text painted in tiny black letters near the kneeling woman reads, “Suora Ginevera.”

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 4

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    tempera on panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 44.5 x 28.5 cm (17 1/2 x 11 1/4 in.)
    framed: 60.6 x 41.9 x 5.1 cm (23 7/8 x 16 1/2 x 2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1939.1.265

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Grand Duke Georg II Saxe-Meiningen [1826-1914], who possibly acquired it during the third quarter of the nineteenth century in Florence;[1] by 1900 in his castle at Meiningen, Saxony;[2] sold in the mid- or late 1920s.[3] (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); sold March 1937 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1939 to NGA.
[1] Although it does not appear among the ten early Italian panels described by Max Jordan in the collection of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen in 1872 (see Joseph Archer Crowe and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle, A New History of Painting in Italy, from the II to the XVI Century, German ed. trans. Max Jordan, 6 vols. in 8 parts, Leipzig, 1869-1876: 4:592-593), it is likely that at that time the collection had already assumed its definitive aspect. Two of the more important items, the pair of Saints by Perugino now in New York (see Pietro Scarpellini, Perugino, Milan, 1984: 114) were still in Florence in 1850, with the dealer Metzger (see Giorgio Vasari, Le vite de'più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architetti, ed. Le Monnier, 14 vols., Florence, 1850 (originally 1568): 6:47 n. 2), and it is likely that Johann Metzger and his son, Ludwig, suppliers of early Italian pictures to the Berlin and Munich galleries, also provided paintings of the same kind to Meiningen Castle. On the Metzgers see John Fleming, "Art Dealing in the Risorgimento-II," The Burlington Magazine 121 (1979): 497 n. 2.
[2] See Bernard Berenson, The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, 2nd ed., New York and London, 1900: 106.
[3] The collection was probably broken up in the 1920s. A triptych by Bernardo Daddi, now in the Frick Art Museum in Pittsburgh (no. 1973.27), was sold in 1920 (see Richard Offner, A Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting, sec. 3, 2nd ed., Florence, 1991: 4:234), and Filippino Lippi's Adoration of the Child (NGA 1937.1.18), left the Saxe-Meiningen collection in 1929. In any case, Gozzoli's panel, recorded by Bernard Berenson, "Quadri senza casa: Il Quattrocento fiorentino. Part 3," Dedalo 12, no. 11 (November 1932): 837, as on the market, obviously must have changed ownership sometime before that date.
[4] The Duveen Brothers letter confirming the sale of twenty-four paintings, including NGA 1939.1.265, is dated 9 March 1937; the provenance is given as "Saxe-Meiningen Coll'n" (copy in NGA curatorial files; Box 474, Folder 5, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles). See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1907.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2022

  • Out of the Kress Vaults: Women in Sacred Renaissance Painting, Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield, CT, 2022, no. 14, repro.

Bibliography

1900

  • Berenson, Bernard. The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, 2nd ed. New York and London, 1900: 106.

1901

  • Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell’arte italiana. 11 vols. Milan, 1901-1940: 7(1910):430 n. 1.

1908

  • Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle. A New History of Painting in Italy, from the II to the XVI Century. 3rd edition. 3 vols. Ed. Edward Hutton. London, 1908-1909: 2(1909):486 n. 3.

1909

  • Berenson, Bernard. The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, 3rd ed. London, 1909: 114.

  • Voss, Georg. Herzogtum Sachsen-Meiningen Bau-und Kunst-Denkmäler Thüringens, no. 34. Jena, 1909: 5, part 1:1.

1923

  • Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 11(1929):216 n. 1.

1930

  • Hoogewerff, Godefridus Johannes. Benozzo Gozzoli. Paris, 1930: 93.

1932

  • Berenson, Bernard. “Quadri senza casa: il Quattrocento fiorentino – 3” Dedalo 12, no. 11 (1932): 837.

1933

  • Venturi, Lionello. Italian Paintings in America. New York and Milan, 1933: 2:pl.216.

1941

  • Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: nos. 49-50, repros.

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 90, no. 376.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 247, repro. 122.

1945

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 46, repro.

1954

  • Ferguson, George. Signs and Symbols in Christian Art. New York, 1954: fig. 93.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 63, repro.

1963

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Florentine School. 2 vols. London, 1963: 1:97.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 61.

1966

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 115-116, fig. 315.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 53, repro.

1969

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. “Benozzo ante 1450.” Commentari 20 (1969): 56, 57, 59, 62 n. 16, fig. 6.

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 25, 645.

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. Benozzo Gozzoli pittore fiorentino. Florence, 1972: 31, 107, fig. 24.

1973

  • Bonsanti, Giorgio. “Arti.” Antologia Viesseux 28-29 (1972-1973): 88.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 160, repro.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:228; 2:pl. 154

1983

  • Early Italian Paintings and Works of Art 1300-1480 in Aid of the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum. Exh. cat. Matthiesen Fine Art, London, 1983: 50.

1984

  • Toscano, Bruno. “Jacopo Vincioli.” Prospettiva 33-36 (1983-1984): 64, 66, 69, 74 n. 31.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 185, repro.

1989

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. Arte e committenza a Pistoia alla fine del XV secolo: Benozzo Gozzoli e i figli Francesco e Alesso. Nuove Ricerche. Pistoia, 1989: 19.

1990

  • Bartalini, Roberto. “Benozzo Gozzoli.” In Luciano Bellosi, ed. Pittura di luce: Giovanni di Francesco e l’arte fiorentina di metà Quattrocento. Exh. cat. Casa Buonarroti, Florence, 1990: 109.

1992

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. Benozzo Gozzoli. Catalogo completo. Florence, 1992: 44, cat. 19.

  • Dalli Regoli, Gigetta, and Gemma Landolfi. “Un testo profetico medievale in un codice quattrocentesco: Vaticinia Pontificum e il Ms. Harley 1340 della British Library.” In Melania Ceccanti and Maria Cristina Castelli, eds. Il codice miniato: rapporto tra codice, testo e figurazione. Atti del III Congresso di storia della miniatura, 20 – 23 ottobre 1988, Palazzo Casali, Cortona_. Florence, 1992: 423.

1996

  • Ahl, Diane Cole. Benozzo Gozzoli. New Haven, 1996: 253, 266, pl. 319.

1998

  • Mencarelli, Rosaria. “Opus Benotii de Florentia: La pala della Sapienza Nuova di Benozzo Gozzoli.” In Vittoria Garibaldi, ed. Beato Angelico e Benozzo Gozzoli: Artisti del Rinascimento a Perugia. Itinerari d’arte in Umbria. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 1998: 67, fig. 5.

  • Minardi, Mauro. “Benozzo Gozzoli giovane e gli studi recenti.” Arte Cristiana 86, no. 786 (1998): 240 n. 35.

2001

  • Nessi, Silvestro. Benozzo Gozzoli. La vita - Le opere. Perugia, 2001: 76.

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: 342-345, color repro.

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. _Benozzo Gozzoli. Un pittore insigne, “pratico di grandissima invenzione”. _Milan, 2003: 81, fig. 33.

  • Dalli Regoli, Gigetta. “Presenza della parola nella pittura di Benozzo.” In Enrico Castelnuovo and Alessandro Malquori, eds. Benozzo Gozzoli: Viaggio attraverso un secolo. Convegno Internazionale di Studi (Firenze - Pisa, 8 - 10 gennaio 1998). Pisa, 2003: 169, fig. 56.

  • Ahl, Diane Cole. “Le opere di Benozzo Gozzoli in Umbria.” In Enrico Castelnuovo and Alessandro Malquori, eds. Benozzo Gozzoli: Viaggio attraverso un secolo. Convegno Internazionale di Studi (Firenze – Pisa, 8 -10 gennaio 1998). Pisa, 2003: 110-111.

2021

  • Nocentini, Serena, and Valentina Zucchi. "Benozzo, pittore fiorentino." In Serena Nocentini and Valentina Zucchi, eds. Benozzo Gozzoli e la Cappella dei Magi. Exh. cat. Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, 2021: 22.

Inscriptions

on halo of central saint: .SANCTA.VREVLA.VIRGO. (original inscription, miscorrected during an early restoration, was "VRSVLS"); on halo of saint in upper right:.ANGELVS.; on halo of saint in upper left: .ANGELVS.; below nun in lower left, partially legible, "o" above the other letters: Suora .Ginevera.

Wikidata ID

Q20173749

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