Saint Helena

c. 1495

Cima da Conegliano

Artist, Venetian, c. 1459 - 1517 or 1518

A pale-skinned woman stands holding a cross in front of a deep landscape in this vertical painting. The woman’s body faces us but she tips her head to our right and looks off in that direction with light brown, wide-set, large eyes. She has a long, straight nose, pale pink lips, and a square jawline. Her thick blond hair is pulled back and curls fall alongside her face and fall down to her shoulders. She wears a gold crown and gold breastplate ornamented with pearls and gems. Her lapis-blue gown is slit along the long sleeves and puffs of white linen are pulled through the openings. A carnation-red robe drapes over one shoulder and across her hips. She is barefoot, and both hands brace the tall cross to her right, our left. A tall, spindly tree with only a few leaves in its sparce canopy stands just behind her to our right. She stands on a grassy hill, and a path leads back to a town. More grassy, tree-lined hills behind her rise to another town outlined against the pale blue sky. A few clouds trundle across the sky and more are streaked across the pink horizon, which comes about halfway up this composition.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 10

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 40.2 × 32.2 cm (15 13/16 × 12 11/16 in.)
    framed: 61.28 × 53.34 × 8.89 cm (24 1/8 × 21 × 3 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1961.9.12

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Casa Boschi, Bologna, from at least 1777 until 1858, when sold with the entire Boschi collection.[1] Vincenzo Valentini or Gioacchino Valentini, Rome, in 1860.[2] George John Browne, 3rd marquess of Sligo [1820-1896], Westport House, Co. Mayo, Ireland;[3] by inheritance to his daughter (by his third wife), Lady Isabel Mary Peyronnet Browne [1881-1947], Mount Browne, Guildford, Surrey; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 12 March 1948, no. 81); Dr. James Hasson, London;[4] (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); joint ownership from 1953 with (M. Knoedler & Co., New York and London) and (Pinakos, Inc. [Rudolf Heinemann], New York);[5] sold January 1954 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[6] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] This provenance has been revised since the 2003 publication of the Gallery's systematic catalogue of its 15th century Italian paintings. The painting is recorded in a 1777 inventory of the Boschi collection as "S. Elena, bellissima, ben conservata e cosa rara, di Leonardo da Vinci, L. 2500" (see Giuseppe Campori, Raccolta di cataloghi ed inventarii inediti..., Modena, 1870: 634), and Otto Mündler saw the painting in August 1856 when the owner of the collection was the Marchese Valerio Boschi (d. 1857), and again in March 1858 when the collection was for sale (see The Travel Diaries of Otto Mündler 1855-1858, ed. Carol Togneri Dowd, in Walpole Society 51 [1985]: 116 [fol. 48, August 1856], 218 [fol. 61, March 1858], 261, 270). According to documents in the Boschi family archive, the man who paid the money for the collection was Vito Enei; see Edith E. Coulson James, "A Portrait from the Boschi Collection, Bologna," The Burlington Magazine 30, no. 167 (February 1917): 74.
[2] Andrea Ugolini (e-mail of 24 February 2009, in NGA curatorial files) kindly brought to the Gallery's attention the publication of Charles Lock Eastlake's notes on a visit to the Conegliano Domo in 1860 in which he writes "on the left of the spectator the female St [Catherine] is the same as the little St Elena once in the Boschi collection Bologna (now belonging to Valentini Rome & which is inscribed Bellini)"; see Alessandro Frangi, Miriam Leonardi, and Valentina Urizzi, "Altri contributi sui taccuini di Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (1852-1864). Treviso, Castelfranco, Conegliano e Venezia," Solchi: rivista d'arte 9, nos. 1-3 (2005?): 128-129. Vincenzo Valentini was the Prussian consul in Rome; Gioacchino Valentini was his heir, either his son or nephew.
[3] The 1948 sale catalogue states that the painting was "presented to the Third Marquess of Sligo by his first wife," but this must be in error, as was pointed out to the Gallery by Andrea Ugolini (e-mail of 20 February 2009, in NGA curatorial files). The 3rd Marquess' first wife was Ellen Sydney Smythe, daughter of the 6th viscount Strangford. They married in 1847, and she died in 1852, making it impossible for her to have presented the NGA painting to her husband since the painting appears to have still been in Italy in 1860. Further research must be done to determine when and from whom the 3rd Marquess acquired the painting.
[4] Hasson's name is recorded in Art Prices Current 1947-1949 26 (1951): A52, no. 2133.
[5] Thos. Agnew and Sons Ltd Archive, reference number NGA27, Research Centre, National Gallery, London: Stock book no. J1027; and M. Knoedler & Co. Records, accession number 2012.M.54, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: Stock book no. 10, p. 111, no A5433; Sales book no. 17, p. 37 (copies in NGA curatorial files).
[6] The bill of sale for this, and several other paintings, is dated 28 January 1954, and annotated paid on 4 February (copy NGA curatorial files, see also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1829).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1953

  • Loan Exhibition of Thirty-Nine Masterpieces of Venetian Painting, Thos. Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London, 1953, no. 12.

2003

  • In the Light of Apollo: Italian Renaissance and Greece, National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens, 2003-2004, no. X.3, repro.

2009

  • Tullio Lombardo and Venetian High Renaissance Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2009, not in catalogue.

2010

  • Cima da Conegliano: Poeta del Paesaggio, Palazzo Sarcinelli, Conegliano, 2010, no. 16, repro.

2012

  • Constantino 313 d.C.: l'editto di Milano e il tempo della tolleranza, Palazzo Reale, Milan, 2012-2013.

2016

  • Aldo Manuzio: Renaissance in Venice, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, 2016, no. 48, repro.

Bibliography

1948

  • Greig, T. P. “In the Auction Rooms.” Connoisseur 121, no. 507 (March 1948): 63, repro.

  • Connoisseur 122, no. 510 (December 1948), repro. on cover.

1953

  • Nicolson, Benedict. “Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions.” The Burlington Magazine 105 (1953): 226.

1956

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida and Fern Rusk Shapley. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1956: 48, no. 15, repro.

  • Walker, John. "The Nation's Newest Old Masters." The National Geographic Magazine 110, no. 5 (November 1956): color repro. 630, 655.

1957

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Venetian School. 2 vols. London, 1957: 1:66.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 148, repro.

  • Coletti, Luigi. Cima da Conegliano. Venice, 1959: 74, pl. 23.

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: 56-58, color repro.

  • Pallucchini, Rodolfo. “Giunte al catalogo di Cima da Conegliano.” In Studi di storia dell’arte: Raccolta di saggi a Roberto Longhi. Arte Antica e Moderna 13-16 (1961): 187.

1962

  • Menegazzi, Luigi, ed. Cima da Conegliano. Exh. cat. Palazzo del Trecento, Treviso, 1962: 25.

  • Pignatti, Terisio. “Rapporti tra il Cima ed il Carpaccio attorno al primo decennio del Cinquecento.” La provincia di Treviso 5 (1962): 11.

1964

  • Menegazzi, Luigi. “Di Giambattista Cima da Conegliano e di Silvestro de Arnosti da Ceneda.” Arte Veneta 18 (1964): 70.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 28.

  • Zava Boccazzi, Franca. Cima da Conegliano. Milan, 1965: 4, 6, repro.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 20, repro.

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 58-59, fig. 143.

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 53, 402.

  • De Mas, Alfredo. Conegliano: Arte, Storia, e Vita. Milan, 1972: 9, 16, 33.

1974

  • Lucco, Mauro. “Basaiti: Un dipinto ritrovato e un consuntivo.” Paragone 25, no. 297 (1974): 47.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 70, repro.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:132; 2:pl. 92.

1980

  • Storia dell’agricoltura europea. Milan, 1980: XXI, repro.

1981

  • Menegazzi, Luigi. Cima da Conegliano. Treviso, 1981: 10, 30, 88, 104-105, pls. 53, VII, IX.

1983

  • Humfrey, Peter. Cima da Conegliano. Cambridge and New York, 1983: 3, 29-30, 49, 94, 109, 140-141, 154, 167, pl. 46.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 191, no.217, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 89, repro.

  • Mündler, Otto. "The Travel Diaries of Otto Mündler." Ed. Carol Togneri Dowd. Walpole Society 51 (1985): 116, 218, 261, 270.

1986

  • Faldon, Nilo, and Francesco Valcanover. Giambattista Cima da Conegliano. Treviso, 1986: 107, pl. 9.

1993

  • Gagliardi, Jacques. La conquête de la peinture: L’Europe des ateliers du XIIIe au XVe siècle. Paris, 1993: 780, fig. 989.

  • Potočnik, Michele. Conegliano città murata. Ponzano Veneto, 1993: 38-42.

1994

  • Echols, Robert. "Cima and the Theme of Saint Jerome in the Wilderness." Venezia Cinquecento IV, no. 8 (July-December 1994): 47-69, fig. 8.

  • Puppi, Lionello. “Citazioni nell’opera di Cima.” Venezia Cinquecento 4, no. 8 (1994): 6.

  • Tempestini, Anchise. “L’approccio alla civiltà classica in Cima da Conegliano e Giovanni Bellini.” Venezia Cinquecento 4, no. 7 (1994): 37.

1995

  • Bettagno, Alessandro, and Giorgio Fossaluzza. “Interpretazioni del paesaggio nella pittura veneta.” In Alessandro Bettagno, ed. Natura e arte nel paesaggio veneto. Dalle interpretazioni pittoriche alle immagine fotografiche. Turin, 1995: 143, fig. 33.

2002

  • Pitteri, Mauro. “Il paesaggio agrario coneglianese del primo Cinquecento e le opere di G. B. Cima da Conegliano.” Storiadentro. Rivista di studi storici. N.s., 1 (2002): 127, 134, 139, 146.

2003

  • Boskovits, Miklós, David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2003: 206-209, color repro.

2009

  • Ortis Alessandrini, Emanuela. “Presenze di Cima da Contegliano a Portogruaro e nel Veneto orientale.” In Anna Maria Spiazzi and Luca Majoli, eds. Tra Livenza e Tagliamento. Arte e cultura a Portogruaro e nel territorio concordiese tra XV e XVI secolo. Atta della giornata di studio. Portogruaro, 28 novembre 2008. Vicenza, 2009: 170-171, fig. 2.

2012

  • Villa, Giovanni Carlo Federico. Cima da Conegliano, maître de la Renaissance vénitienne. Exh. cat. Musee du Luxembourg, Paris, 2012: 92-94, fig. 26.

2013

  • Potočnik, Michele, and Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa, eds. Il paesaggio di Cima: Da Conegliano ai monti di Endimione. Treviso, 2013: 16-17, 26-27, 40-41, 110-111, cat. 12.

Wikidata ID

Q3948809

You may be interested in

Loading Results