Provenance

Louis-Charles Timbal

French, 1821 - 1880

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The sculpture is a round relief made of white marble. It depicts a man in a side profile with shoulder-length wavy hair and a prominent chin. The man is wearing an elegant garment with intricate patterns near the shoulder. Surrounding the profile relief, there is an inscription in raised letters—"LVDOVICVS. SF DVX BARI." The circular form of the sculpture resembles a medallion or coin.
Benedetto Briosco, Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Bari, early 1490s, marble, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.120

Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Bari

Benedetto Briosco · early 1490s · marble ·  Accession ID  1937.1.120

On a tiled courtyard between buildings with arches and columns, a winged angel kneels and looks up at a woman standing to our right in this vertical painting. Both people have pale skin, blond hair, and plate-like gold halos at the back of their heads. To our left, the angel wears a silvery-white tunic under a scarlet-red cloak lined with cobalt blue. The wings are fawn brown on the underside, closer to the body, and aquamarine blue on the outside. Gold lines delineate feathers. The angel holds a white lily with two blooms and four buds on a long stem in the hand farther from us, which rests on a bent knee. The other hand is raised in front of the chest. The woman, Mary, stands along the right edge of the painting, her body angled toward the angel. Mary’s long, wavy hair falls to her shoulders, and she wears a lapis-blue robe with a pine-green lining over a red dress. She holds her right hand, farther from us, to her chest and touches the fabric of her cloak with the other, by her hip. The tip of one red shoe peeks out under her voluminous robe. Between the angel and Mary is a stone-white urn with scrolled handles, holding a bouquet of pink and white roses with dark green foliage. The ground is tiled with squares marbled in pale pink, sky blue, rust red, charcoal gray, and brown. Narrow, white panels between the tiles create a grid. The buildings around the pair are fog gray, parchment white, shell pink, or coral red, and are trimmed in black, red, or pink. Rows of arches recede into the square behind the angel and woman, ending at a coral-red wall that encloses the courtyard. An arched doorway in that wall opens onto a pathway leading over a small brook and into a hilly forest. A narrow, conical tree outside the courtyard reaches over the wall, into the vibrant blue sky above. A white dove descends from among the few scattered clouds with golden beams projecting toward the woman to our right.
Fra Carnevale, The Annunciation, c. 1445/1450, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.218

The Annunciation

Fra Carnevale · c. 1445/1450 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.218

Matteo Civitali, Saint Sebastian, c. 1492, painted terracotta, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1943.4.76

Saint Sebastian

Matteo Civitali · c. 1492 · painted terracotta ·  Accession ID  1943.4.76

This freestanding, beige, terracotta bust shows the head and shoulders of a cleanshaven man, Giuliano de' Medici, wearing a suit of armor. The bust is straight across the bottom so it rests directly on the white surface on which it is photographed. In this view, the man’s shoulders are square to us, and he looks off to our right, chin lifted. His eyes are blank, and he has a bumped, aquiline nose and rounded cheeks. His lips are closed, the corners slightly pulled back. His thick, curly hair is cut to create an angle down from his eyebrows, on either side of his forehead, to the back of his neck. His breastplate has a high collar, and, at the front center, a man’s head is sculpted in relief with his mouth wide open, head flanked by upswept wings. The yelling man’s teeth and tongue are visible, and he has wavy hair and prominent ears. The pauldrons, the armor covering Giuliano's shoulders, and the rest of the breastplate are decorated geometric shapes and curved lines that end in sharp points.
Andrea del Verrocchio, Giuliano de' Medici, c. 1475/1478, terracotta, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.127

Giuliano de' Medici

Andrea del Verrocchio · c. 1475/1478 · terracotta ·  Accession ID  1937.1.127

The head and shoulders of a cleanshaven man are carved from white marble lightly streaked in gray in this freestanding sculpture. In this view, the shoulders are square to us, but he turns his head to our right. His left eyebrow, to our right, appears to cocked as he looks into the distance, and he has a sweeping nose with a rounded tip. His long upper lip overhangs the lower lip in a slight overbite. His hair is parted down the middle and ends in curls that angle from eye-level framing his forehead to ear-level at the back of his neck. He wears a high-collared breastplate over linked mail. The breastplate is ornamented with bands of flowers, dots, and other geometric designs. A strap and buckle hang from the neck area. The sculpture ends in a blunt, straight edge across the bottom, and it rests on a brown stone pedestal in front of a gray background.
Mino da Fiesole, Astorgio Manfredi, 1455, marble, Widener Collection, 1942.9.135

Astorgio Manfredi

Mino da Fiesole · 1455 · marble ·  Accession ID  1942.9.135

The sculpture depicts a standing female figure dressed in flowing robes, holding a stick or staff in her right hand while her left hand grasps a part of her attire. She is positioned within a niche that features a scallop shell-like pattern surrounding her head. The sculpture is crafted from marble, giving it a smooth, white appearance with subtle grey veins. The figure is shown in a frontal pose, standing with feet slightly apart on a shallow ledge, while her head is tilted slightly downward, her eyes closed. The detailed drapery of the clothing and the expression on her face contribute to an overall sense of grace and tranquility.
Mino da Fiesole, Faith, 1475/1480, marble, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.118

Faith

Mino da Fiesole · 1475/1480 · marble ·  Accession ID  1937.1.118

Shown from the waist up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a jeweled dress faces our left in profile in this vertical portrait painting. She looks into the distance with the light brown eye we can see, under a faint, arched brow. She has a petite nose, smooth, lightly flushed cheeks, and her peach-colored lips are closed. Her rust-brown gown is trimmed with wide, mustard-yellow panels studded with pearls, rubies, and sapphires along the front of the bodice and down the sleeve we can see. The elbow of that sleeve, near the bottom edge of the painting, is gathered in intricate, narrow pleats. White fabric billows out from the seam where the sleeve meets her shoulder, and a wide scarlet-red belt bordered with pearls wraps around her waist. Her blond hair is pulled back and coiled into a horn over her ear. Her head is covered with a translucent white veil that falls in deep folds to her shoulder. Another sheer veil layered over the first sweeps down over the high hairline of her forehead. A double strand of white pearls encircles her neck above the white collar of her gown. A marine-blue cloth with an olive-green lining nearly fills the background beyond her, but a sliver of a landscape view can be seen along the left edge of the composition. The window opens onto a town with coral-red city walls in front of blue and gray buildings. Hazy blue mountains line the horizon in the deep distance, and the sky above deepens from pale, ice blue over the mountains to topaz blue across the top.
Ercole de' Roberti, Ginevra Bentivoglio, c. 1474/1477, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.220

Ginevra Bentivoglio

Ercole de' Roberti · c. 1474/1477 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.220

This free-standing, white marble bust shows the head, shoulders, and upper chest of a young boy. In this photograph, the sculpture is angled to our right. The boy has full cheeks, a slightly upturned nose, and short, wavy hair. He stares straight ahead, his faint eyebrows slighty lifted. His loose garment drapes from his right shoulder, on our left, down and across his chest to just below his left shoulder.
Desiderio da Settignano, A Little Boy, 1455/1460, marble, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.113

A Little Boy

Desiderio da Settignano · 1455/1460 · marble ·  Accession ID  1937.1.113

A young, pale-skinned woman with long, blond hair and wearing a coral-red gown stands on a pedestal before a landscape filled with people in this vertical painting. The painting has an arched top, and the woman who fills most of the view is Claudia Quinta. Her hair is adorned with strands of pearls, and a larger pearl hangs from a piece of jewelry like a brooch at the top center over her forehead. A sheer veil covers the back of her head. Her body faces us but she turns her head slightly to our right, so she gazes at us from the corners of her light hazel eyes. A pearl necklace with a square gold, sapphire-blue jewel and pearl pendant encircles her neck. The brown sleeves of her dress are flecked densely with short gold lines, and white fabric shows at gaps over the elbows. The red bodice has a high waist tied with a brown belt, which also holds sheer fabric in place so it falls to her knees over the long red skirt. The skirt is bordered with a gold geometric design along the bottom hem, which stops just short of her sandaled feet. In her right hand, on our left, she holds a small, navy-blue boat with a gold figure standing in it. Her other hand rests by her left thigh, to our right. She balances near the front edge of the rectangular pedestal, which is pale violet purple. On the front face, two winged, chubby children are painted white to resemble stone carvings. They brace a panel bordered in gold. The plaque has a teal-blue background, and gold letters read, “CLAVDIA CASTA FVI NEC VVLGVS CREDIDIT AMEN ET TAMEN ID QVOD ERAM TESTIS MIHI PRORA PROBAVIT CONSILIVM ET VIRTVS SVPERANT MATERQVE DEORVM ALMA PLACET POPVLO ET PER ME HVNC ORATA TVETVR.” Beyond Claudia Quinta a river winds in a tight S-curve through dark green hills. Farther back, to our left, a group of people with thin, elongated bodies dressed in blue, light brown, and orange walk in front of a tall dark blue building as they head toward a river on the right side. The building has an arched opening and a tower topped with a taupe-brown spire. To our right of Claudia Quinta, a woman wearing a rose-pink dress holds a rope around the prow of a boat at the edge of the river. Like the boat held by Claudia Quinta, it is navy blue and has the same shape. The pale lavender-purple river continues into the distance, where it meets rocky outcroppings along the horizon, which comes about halfway up the composition. A pale blue sky above is filled with wispy bands of clouds.
Neroccio de' Landi, Claudia Quinta, c. 1490/1495, tempera on poplar panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.12

Claudia Quinta

Neroccio de' Landi · c. 1490/1495 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1937.1.12

Carved in high relief in white marble, a woman and the baby she holds are framed within a curved arch. The woman’s body faces us, but she turns her face to look down at the baby tucked into her left arm, to our right. The woman’s long hair is pulled back under a twisted band, and a few tendrils fall on her face. Her nose is pointed, and she has full lips over a narrow chin. Her dress is fastened on the chest with a button or brooch and is tied across the chest and high around the waist. The garment has elbow-length sleeves, and it falls in a swag across her hips over a long skirt that stops just short of her sandaled feet. The fabric is sheer so the nipple we can see is visible, and the fabric gathers in fine, shallow folds. Her other elbow is bent and held by her side, and the fingers on both hands are noticeably long. The child turns a chubby face up to the woman and crosses his hands over his chest. He is covered only by a cloth across his middle, and he has short, wavy hair. Pudgy rolls make creases on his neck, arms, and especially chunky thighs. The niche in which they stand has a fluted shell in the rounded portion above molding. The remaining niche is smooth, and the entire sculpture is set into a tan-colored wall.
Mino da Fiesole, Charity, 1475/1480, marble, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.117

Charity

Mino da Fiesole · 1475/1480 · marble ·  Accession ID  1937.1.117