The Capitoline Wolf Suckling Romulus and Remus

late 15th - early 16th century

A free-standing, bronze she-wolf stands as two male infants attempt to nurse at her teats in this sculpture. In this photograph, the wolf stands sideways facing our left with her head turned to look at us, eight teats hanging heavily along her underside. Her wide eyes are framed by raised but furrowed brows, and cup-like ears curl back on her round head. Her jaws are slightly open revealing sharp teeth. Her lean body is partly covered by tight clusters of parallel, undulating lines around her head, neck, and along her back, suggesting fur. Beneath her, one boy sits, rocking back on a low rock, and the other kneels. Both tilt their heads back and spread their arms wide as they reach for her teats. The bronze of the boys and wolf are rubbed gold in some areas, especially on the wolf’s ribs. The trio rest on a green and black marble pedestal.

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West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G15
On View

West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G15

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (wolf): 38 x 64.2 x 15.9 cm (14 15/16 x 25 1/4 x 6 1/4 in.)
    overall (height of kneeling twin): 18.1 cm (7 1/8 in.)
    overall (height of seated twin): 13.7 cm (5 3/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1957.14.8

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Friedrich Augustus I, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony;[1] presented 1826 to Baron Wittinghoff [Vietinghoff], Adjutant General, Dresden; Camillo Castiglioni, Vienna, 1923; (his sale, Frederik Muller & Co., Amsterdam, 18 November 1925, no. 10). (Jacob Hirsch Antiquities, New York); sold 1944 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York; gift 1957 to National Gallery of Art.
[1] The first known reference to ownership by Friedrich Augustus I and an 1826 presentation to Wittinghoff is in the Jacob Hirsch sale receipt to the Kress Foundation, dated 24 April 1944, copy in NGA curatorial files; that receipt also declares that “According to tradition in the Baron Wittinghoff family” the sculpture was acquired in Siena around 1740 by Guarienti on behalf of Augustus I. The 1925 Castiglioni sale catalogue simply cites “Freiherr von Vittinghof [Vietinghoff], Dresden” as the former owner. An alternate early provenance is suggested by Dorothea Diemer, who proposed that the Washington group might be identical with a version listed as no. 2433 (2393) in the inventory of the Münchner Kunstkammer in 1598: “Ein alte Lupa Romana den Romulum und Remum saugent, auf einem hochen Posament in metal gossen.” (See Dorothea Diemer, Peter Diemer, Lorenz Seelig, Peter Volk, Brigitte Volk-Knüttel et al., eds., Die Münchner Kunstkammer. Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, philosophisch-historische Klasse, Abhandlungen, NF, Heft 129, 3 vols., Munich, 2008: 2:723).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1978

  • Antiquity in the Renaissance, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts, 1978, no. 17.

Bibliography

1923

  • Planiscig, Leo (introduction). Sammlung Camillo Castiglioni, Bronzestatuetten und Geräte. Vienna, 1923: 20-21, no. 10, repro.

1946

  • Frankfurter, Alfred M. Supplement to the Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1946: 31, repro., as Sienese School, The Capoline Wolf.

1949

  • Seymour, Charles. Masterpieces of Sculpture from the National Gallery of Art. Washington and New York, 1949: 171, note 3, repro. 29, 31.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 424, repro., as Sienese School, The Capitoline Wolf.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 171, as Sienese School, The Capitoline Wolf.

  • Pope-Hennessy, John W. Renaissance Bronzes from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Reliefs, Plaquettes, Statuettes, Utensils and Mortars. London, 1965: no. 531.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 151, repro., as Sienese School, The Capitoline Wolf.

1970

  • Gazda, Elaine K., and Hanfmann, George M. A.. “Ancient bronzes: decline, survival, revival.” in Suzannah Doeringer, David Gordon Mitten and Arthur Steinberg, eds. Art and Technology; a Symposium on Classical Bronzes. Cambridge, MA, 1970: 245-270, esp. 254-255 (repro.), 268 n. 93.

1981

  • Paul Rosenberg & Co. Bronzes of the Italian Renaissance. Twenty-two unpublished statuettes. Introduction and notes by Alexandre P. Rosenberg: no. 1.

1983

  • Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 29.

1985

  • Ebert-Schifferer, Sibylle, ed. Natur und Antike in der Renaissance. Exh. cat. Liebieghaus, Museum Alter Plastik, Frankfurt am Main, 1985: 350.

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 43, repro.

  • Rebaudo, Ludovico. “Questioni di storia dell’archeologia nel Quattrocento II. La ‘Lupa Capitolina’ nel 1471.” Prospettiva 73-74 (January-April 1994): 21-31, esp. 28 and 31, n. 84.

2004

  • Banzato, Davide and Vok, Ignazio, eds. Bronzi del Rinascimento. Collezione Vok. Exh. cat. Musei civici agli Eremitani, Padua, 2004: 11.

2005

  • Scholten, Frits, and Monique Verber, with contributions by Robert van Langh and Dirk Visser. From Vulcan’s Forge: Bronzes from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 1450-1800. Exh. cat. Daniel Katz Ltd., London and Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna. London, 2005: 61, n.1.

2008

  • Diemer Dorothea, Peter Diemer, Lorenz Seelig, Peter Volk, Brigitte Volk-Knüttel et al., eds., Die Münchner Kunstkammer. Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, philosophisch-historische Klasse, Abhandlungen, NF, Heft 129. 3 vols. Munich, 2008: 2:723, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q63809326

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