The Presentation in the Temple
c. 1470/1480
Painter, Netherlandish, active probably third quarter 15th century


West Building Main Floor, Gallery 39
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on panel
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
painted surface: 57.9 x 47.8 cm (22 13/16 x 18 13/16 in.)
overall (panel): 59 x 48.1 cm (23 1/4 x 18 15/16 in.) -
Accession
1961.9.28
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Count Johann Rudolph Czernin von Chudenitz [1757-1845], Vienna, by 1823;[1] by inheritance through the family of the counts Czernin, Vienna; Count Eugen Czernin von Chudenitz [1892-1955], Vienna, until about 1954. (Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York), by 1954; purchased 1955 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[2] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] Franz Heinrich Böckh, Merkwürdigkeiten der Haupt- und Residenz-Stadt Wien und ihrer nächsten Umgebungen; ein Handbuch für Einheimische und Fremde, 2 vols., Vienna, 1823: I:294-295. Colin Eisler, in Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian, Oxford, 1977: 59-60, states that Czernin probably purchased the painting from Edward Solly; the basis for this statement is not given, however.
[2] A letter dated 8 February 1955 from Wildenstein & Co. to the Kress Foundation outlines the agreement for the sale of two paintings and a bronze figure (see copies in NGA curatorial files and The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2271). One of the paintings was Presentation in the Temple "by Memling."
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1930
CX. Ausstellung der Vereinigung bildender Künstler Wiener Secession: Drei Jahrhunderte vlämische Kunst 1400-1700, Wiener Secession, Vienna, 1930, no. 31.
2009
Rogier van der Weyden, 1400-1464: Master of Passions, Municipal Museum Vander Kelen-Mertens, Leuven, 2009.
2013
The Heritage of Rogier van der Weyden: Painting in Brussels 1450-1520, Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, 2013, no. 14.3, repro.
Bibliography
1823
Böckh, Franz Heinrich. Merkwürdigkeiten der Haupt- und Residenz-Stadt Wien und ihrer nächsten Umgebungen; ein Handbuch für Einheimische und Fremde. 2 vols. Vienna, 1823: 1:295.
1841
Passavant, J. D. "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der alniederländischen Malerschulen des 15ten und 16ten Jahrhunderts." Kunstblatt no. 5 (1841): 19.
1847
Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. "Nachträge zur Kenntniss der alniederländischen Malerschulen." Kunstblatt no. 47 (1847): 186.
1866
Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Die vornehmsten Kunstdenkmäler in Wien. 2 vols. Vienna, 1866: 1:306, no. 27.
1872
Crowe, J. A., and G.B. Cavalcaselle. The Early Flemish Painters: Notices of their Lives and Works. 2nd ed. London, 1872: 219.
1889
Leprieur, Paul. "Des répliques de l'Adoration des Mages d'Utrecht." La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité no. 40 (1889): 316.
1903
Friedländer, Max J. Meisterwerke der niederländischen Malerei des XV. u. XVI. Jahrhunderts auf der Ausstellung zu Brügge 1902. Munich, 1903: 14.
1906
Voll, Karl. Die altniederländische Malerei von Jan van Eyck bis Memling. Leipzig, 1906: 287.
1907
Vollmer, Hans. "Memling." In Thieme-Becker. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 24(1930):375.
1908
Katalog der Graf Czernin'schen Gemälde-Galerie in Wien. Vienna, 1908: 5, no. 27.
1924
Friedländer, Max J. Die altniederländische Malerei. 14 vols. Berlin and Leiden, 1924-1937. Berlin, 1934: 6:18-20, 133, no. 99B. (English transl. 14 vols. Leiden, 1967-1976. Leiden, 1971: 6 pt. 2:15-16, 57, no. 99B, pl. 125) under "Doubtful works of Memlinc."
Friedländer, Max J. Die altniederländische Malerei 14 vols. Berlin and Leiden 1924-1937. Berlin, 1924: 2:119, no. 85. (English ed., 14 vols., 1967-1976. Leiden, 1967: 2:77, 101, no. 85, pl. 106) as "follower of Rogier."
1928
Kaines Smith, S. C. "An Isenbrant for Birmingham." The Burlington Magazine 53 (1928): 243.
Hulin de Loo, Georges. "Hans Memlinc in Rogier van der Weyden's Studio."The Burlington Magazine 52 (1928): 160-177, pls. 111 B, IV A.
1930
Baldass, Ludwig. "Drei Jahrhunderte flämische Malerei." Pantheon 5 (1930): 132, repro. 131.
Eisler, Max. "The Exhibition of Three Hundred Years of Flemish Art in Vienna." Apollo 11 (1930): 188-189.
Glück, Gustav. "Drei Jahrhunderte vlämischer Kunst." Belvedere 9 (1930): 77, fig. 50.
Destrée, Jules. Roger de la Pasture - Van der Weyden. 2 vols. Paris and Brussels, 1930: 1:162-163, pl. 110.
1931
Friedländer, Max J. "Ein Jugendwerk Memlings." Pantheon 7 (1931): 186.
1933
Museo del Prado. Catálogo de las Pinturas. Madrid, 1933: 400-401.
1936
Wilczek, Karl. Katalog der Graf Czernin'schen Gemäldegalerie in Wien. Vienna, 1936: 100-101, no. 27, fig. 18.
1938
Hulin de Loo, Georges. "Rogier van der Weyden." In Biographie Nationale de Belgique. 29 vols. Brussels, 1938: 27:col. 241.
1939
Exposition Memling. Exh. cat. Musée Communale, Bruges, 1939: 65-66.
1941
De Tolnay, Charles. "Flemish Paintings in the National Gallery of Art." Magazine of Art 34 (April 1941): 200.
1942
Baldass, Ludwig von. Hans Memling. Vienna, 1942: 40.
Bergmans, Simone. "Visages du passé." Apollo. Chronique des beaux-arts no. 12 (1942): 5-8.
1947
Friedländer, Max J. Memling. Amsterdam, [1947]: 10-11.
1952
Bergmans, Simone. La peinture ancienne, ses mystères, ses secrets. Brussels, 1952: 86-87.
1953
Panofsky Erwin. Early Netherlandish Painting: Its Origins and Character. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1953: 1:479.
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: 11, 128, 130, repro. 129, 131.
Walker, John. "The Nation's Newest Old Masters." National Geographic Magazine 110, no. 5 (November 1956): repro. 622 (X-ray), repro. 623, repros. 625 (details), 644-645.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 283, repro., as by Hans Memling.
1960
The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 4, 11, 23, color repro., as by Hans Memling.
Flanders in the Fifteenth Century: Art and Civilization. Exh. cat. The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1960: 139.
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: 63-65, 213, color fig. 57, 58; color frontispiece, as by Memling.
1962
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 54, color repro., as by Hans Memling.
Neugass, Fritz. "Die Auflösung der Sammlung Kress." Die Weltkunst 32, no. 1 (1962): 4.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 102, repro., as by Memling.
1965
Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd. The Heathcote Amory Collection. Exh. cat. The Fermoy Art Gallery, King's Lynn, 1965: 5.
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 89, as by Memling.
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:80-81, color repro., as by Hans Memling.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 78, repro., as by Memling.
Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 110, color repro.
1969
Corti, Maria, and Giorgio T. Faggin. L'opera completa di Memling. Milan, 1969: 93, no. 17, repro.
1972
Davies, Martin. Rogier van der Weyden. London, 1972: 228.
1973
Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 86.
1975
[Wells, William]. Treasures from the Burrell Collection. Exh. cat. Hayward Gallery, London, 1975: 13.
Biermann, Alfons W. "Die Miniaturenhandschriften des Kardinals Albrecht von Brandenburg (1514-1545)." Aachener Kunstblätter 46 (1975): 63, 273.
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 232, repro., as by Memling.
1977
Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 57-60, figs. 52, 53, color repro.
1978
Deroubaix, Christiane. "Un triptych du Maître de la Légende de Saint Catherine (Pieter van der Weyden?) reconstitué." Bulletin de l'Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique 17 (1978/1979): 157-158, 160, 166-168.
1981
Hull, Vida Joyce. Hans Memlinc's Paintings for the Hospital of Saint John in Bruges. New York and London, 1981: 96, 131.
Winter, Patrick M. de. "A Book of Hours of Queen Isabel la Católica." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67 (1981): 408, 427, fig. 95.
1982
Abrams, Richard I. and Warner A. Hutchinson. An Illustrated Life of Jesus, From the National Gallery of Art Collection. Nashville, 1982: 27, color repro.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. Washington, 1984: 128, no. 117, color repro., as by Hans Memling.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 255, repro.
1986
Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 155-161, repro. 157.
Wikidata ID
Q20174037