Provenance

Francis A. Drey

Drey, Franz
Drey, Margaret
Drey, M.H. Limited

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Two women and a man support the gray, lifeless body of a nearly nude man along a stone ledge in this vertical painting. The people have pale skin, except for the dead man at the center, Jesus, who has ash-white skin with dark shadows around his closed eyes. He has a long straight nose, and his lips are slightly parted. He has a brown beard, and his long, wavy hair falls away from his face. A white cloth wraps across his hips, and blood trickles from a gash over his right ribs and holes in his feet. A woman and man prop him up on either side, each holding Jesus by a limp arm, and each has a faint, gold halo encircling their heads. To our left, the woman holds her face close to his, her brows deeply furrowed and her mouth wide open, teeth showing. Her forehead, chin, and neck are covered by a white veil, worn under navy-blue cloak that covers her head and body. The cloak falls open over one arm and a bent knee to reveal her long-sleeved, lighter blue dress. On Jesus’s other side, a cleanshaven man with curly brown hair holds Jesus’s arm with both hands. The man’s eyes squint with tears as he tips his head toward Jesus. His pink lips are parted, and the corner of the mouth we can see is pulled down. He wears an emerald-green, long-sleeved tunic under a vivid red cloth that wraps around his right arm, waist, and left leg. The fourth and final person is a woman sitting on the ground, her arms wrapped tightly around Jesus’s crossed ankles. She sits with one foot tucked under her body and the other leg out straight. Waist-length, wavy, auburn-brown hair falls freely over her shoulders and across her face, but we can see her downturned, open mouth and nearly closed eyes. She wears a rose-pink dress, cinched at the waist. A brown cloth wraps around her waist and right leg. A cylindrical, lidded, white jar sits on the dirt ground nearby. The group is arranged in front a thigh-high stone ledge, except for the man in green and red, who steps into what is presumably the coffin. A rocky outcropping to our right has a cave-like opening with grasses and growth along the top. The landscape beyond has a dirt path winding between pine-green hills dotted with trees. Two slate-blue buildings perch atop one hill. White clouds float across the blue sky above.
Moretto da Brescia, Pietà, 1520s, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.10

Pietà

Moretto da Brescia · 1520s · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.2.10

Set in a landscape, a young man holding a broken lance lunges over the neck of his horse to look at the body of a forest-green dragon on the ground beneath them, while a young woman looks on from our left in this vertical painting. The man and woman both have light skin. The horse and rider are in the center, facing our right, and the man’s scarlet-red cape flutters upward. His right arm, to our left, is bent sharply as he thrusts the shard of the red-and-white striped lance down. His eyebrows are drawn together, and his mouth is open, the corner we can see pulled down. Form-fitting, royal-purple armor protects his torso, and he wears a bronze and silver helmet topped with red and white feathers. His muscular arms are bare, as is the knee we can see between a celery-green skirt and a gray sandal that covers most of that shin. His saddle and saddle blanket are blueberry blue. The brown horse has a dark mane and tail. It lunges forward and down with mouth wide open and teeth bared, so it trounces or pins the dragon beneath its front legs. The dragon is curled in a ball on the lower right side of the composition with its head wrenched backward onto its body. Crimson-red drops of blood drip from its gaping mouth. The young woman stands on the left side of the composition with one knee kneeling on a tall rock. She faces us, wearing a cranberry-red gown under a gold cloak that drapes from her right shoulder, to our left, across her back, and over the other knee. A delicate gold crown rests on her dark blond hair, and she lifts her eyes to look up at the man. Her hands are raised in front of her chest, with gold bracelets and chains hanging from her wrists. In the lower right corner of the painting, a severed foot, arm, and two heads lie near the dragon. Trees with tall, narrow, deep green canopies and one tree with spindly branches lined with delicate leaves separate the scene in front of us from the landscape beyond. In the distance, a city of white stone buildings cluster on a steep hill that rises to our left from a harbor. Tiny in scale, about a dozen people are gathered on two roofs of a multi-level structure, while others move on foot or on horseback down a road leading toward us. The powder-blue sky is scattered with puffy, white clouds. A winged angel surrounded by a butter-yellow aura hovers in the upper right corner.
Sodoma, Saint George and the Dragon, probably 1518, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.76

Saint George and the Dragon

Sodoma · probably 1518 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.76

A man, Jesus, is nailed to a cross by his hands and feet and is flanked by groups of about a dozen people to each side, all against a hilly, deep landscape in this horizontal painting. All the people have peachy, nearly golden skin, and their clothing is mostly vibrant yellow, red, blue, and purple. The horizon comes about two-thirds of the way up this composition and crosses behind Jesus’s waist, so the top half of his body and the cross are silhouetted against the ice-blue sky. Eyes closed, Jesus’s head hangs by his shoulder, to our left. Blood drips from the nails driven through his hands, from a gash over his right ribs, and more runs in a continuous stream from his overlapping feet onto the stony ground. Blood also trickles down his shoulder-length brown hair under a ring of thorns. A flat, disk-like halo hovers over his head so it angles sharply toward us, but we can see a red cross on the underside. The letters “INRI” are written in white on a red panel affixed to the top of the cross. The man is nude except for a white cloth across his hips. To our left, a man sits on a red saddle astride a dark brown horse. The balding man has a white beard and hair. He holds a long spear with its pointed end dripping blood against his body with one hand, and holds up his other hand by his chest as he looks at Jesus. In front of him and to our left, a group of six women and one man gather and kneel around a swooning woman. Closest to us, the fainting woman wears a raspberry-pink gown under a blue mantle, which covers her head and shoulders over a white veil. Her body is braced to our right by a cleanshaven man with long, curly blond hair, wearing a tan robe. A woman wearing a purple dress under an orange robe, with unbound, flax-yellow hair, supports the swooning woman’s body on the other side, to our left. Four more women look on from behind this trio. All of them have white veils over their heads, and one has a red mantle over her veil. Tears fall from everyone’s eyes in this group. Five of them, including the woman and those supporting her, have flat, disk-like halos. A short distance away to our left, three children look at the cross from a tall hill. Two sit together, and one stands and holds onto the trunk of a tree growing there. They wear tones of yellow, orange, and rose pink. Next to the cross to our right is a white horse, also with a red saddle. A man with brown hair and beard, wearing purple and yellow, looks up to Jesus. To the right, three men in armor draw straws from the fist of a fourth. Two more men stand near this group and six sit on horses behind them. The rocky ground at the base of the cross is strewn with stones. A green meadow stretches back to a body of water, which is lined with pale blue mountains in the hazy distance.
Benvenuto di Giovanni, The Crucifixion, probably 1491, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.53

The Crucifixion

Benvenuto di Giovanni · probably 1491 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.53

Marco Zoppo, Anonymous Artist, Madonna and Child, c. 1467/1468, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.51

Madonna and Child

Marco Zoppo, Anonymous Artist · c. 1467/1468 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1961.9.51

A long haired, bearded man holds a whip and stands in the middle of a crowd of about two dozen people who stand or twist, all in a building with columns and arches in this horizontal painting. Brushstrokes are visible in some areas, especially in the clothing and sky seen through one arch. All the men have light skin with a greenish cast while the women and children have smooth, pale skin. They wear dresses and robes in shades of rose pink, lapis blue, emerald green, or brown. The man at the center, Jesus, stands facing us with his right knee bent and his weight shifted onto his other leg. He holds a short, four-tailed whip in his right hand high and stretched across his body. He tilts his head to our left and looks down in that direction at the person next to him. Jesus has brown hair and wears a dark pink robe under a bright blue cloth that drapes over one shoulder and across the other hip. To our left, two men with bare torsos and raised arms lean away from Jesus. The man closest to him faces away from us as he bends over at the waist and looks over his shoulder at Jesus. That man wears a burnt orange cloth wrapped around his hips over a dark brown skirt, perhaps of a toga. Behind this pair are about a dozen other people and below them, two bare-breasted women recline on steps, their bodies angled to our right. One woman throws her head back against her raised arm, her mouth open and brow gathered. The other woman looks up at Jesus, holding one hand to her bare breast, her lips closed. She rests her right hand, to our left, on a cage holding five white birds on the ground next to her. Next to Jesus, on our right, a wrinkled, balding, gray-haired and bearded man sits on the steps so his knees come toward us. His torso twists to our left so he can rest his chin in his hand as he looks up at Jesus. That elbow and his other hand rest on the handle of a basket filled with gold coins. There are several animals around this man, including two black and white rabbits at his feet, nosing silver objects spilling from a pouch. Nearby, a gray bird sits on the step, and a white lamb with its feet tied to a stick lies belly up next to a wooden box. Behind the man is a crowd of at least eight people, looking at Jesus or each other. A bare-breasted woman guides a naked, toddler-aged child away from this group. A stick balanced across the woman’s far shoulder has a chicken hanging from the front end and a basket hanging behind. Another child lies back on the steps near the right edge of the painting. Next to that child, an open book and a loaf of bread lie beneath a table covered with an orange and brown patterned cloth. The scene takes place in a structure with columns and arched openings. Two people wearing blue robes hustle under one arched opening to our right, which leads back to a shadowed space lit with a chandelier. Blue sky and gray and white clouds are visible through the arch over Jesus, where there are also more sand-brown buildings in the distance. There are statues high up on ledges on either side of that opening. The artist signed the work in white paint in the lower left to the right of the bird cage in Greek letters.
El Greco, Christ Cleansing the Temple, probably before 1570, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1957.14.4

Christ Cleansing the Temple

El Greco · probably before 1570 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1957.14.4

Red satin drapes are drawn back to either side of this vertical painting to reveal a nude woman with pale, white skin sitting upright in a narrow bathtub. The woman occupies the right half of the painting. To our left, another woman nursing a swaddled baby and a child, all also with pale skin, gather near the tub. The bathing woman’s body is angled slightly to our left but she looks into the distance to our right. She has a straight nose, small pink lips, dark eyes, and smooth skin. Her brown hair is pulled up under a jeweled cap, and she wears pearl earrings, a gold bracelet on each wrist, and a gold ring with a pink stone on her left pinky finger. She holds a carnation with her right hand, on our left. The inside of the tub is draped with white fabric, which folds over the sides. A bowl of fruit and flowers are scattered on what must be a board spanning the tub, which is also covered with a white cloth. From the far side of the tub, the child reaches for the fruit. The woman nursing the baby has one breast exposed but is otherwise fully dressed in a garment with red sleeves and a white cap. The woman has a prominent nose, and she smiles as she looks at us from the corners of her eyes. The room behind these women has fireplace with an ornate mantel and windows open to a landscape to our left. A picture showing a unicorn resting in front of a tree and a dark mirror hangs on the wall between the fireplace and windows. At a table placed in front of the fireplace, a third light-skinned woman leans over and lifts a jug.
François Clouet, A Lady in Her Bath, c. 1571, oil on oak, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.13

A Lady in Her Bath

François Clouet · c. 1571 · oil on oak ·  Accession ID  1961.9.13

A young woman with a pale, peachy skin is shown from waist up, wearing a shimmering, royal-blue dress in this vertical painting. Her body is angled to our right as she holds a metal object, perhaps a vessel or incense burner, in her hands by her chest. She turns and tilts her head to our left, but then looks back across her body, off to our right with flint-gray eyes. She has a full, oval-shaped face with a straight nose, smooth cheeks, and her pale pink lips are closed. A gray pearl earring hangs from the ear we can see. Her auburn-brown hair is parted down the middle, and loosely pulled back into a braid that brushes her left shoulder, to our right. The blue dress has a square neckline and a fitted bodice. Light glints off the fabric, shading it from royal to sapphire blue. A voluminous white sleeve is rolled back to her right elbow, to our left. That arm and hand nearly span the width of the painting as she holds the vessel, which has a conical top, near the lower right corner of the composition. The background is solid black.
Sebastiano del Piombo, Portrait of a Young Woman as a Wise Virgin, c. 1510, oil on hardboard transferred from panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.9

Portrait of a Young Woman as a Wise Virgin

Sebastiano del Piombo · c. 1510 · oil on hardboard transferred from panel ·  Accession ID  1952.2.9

A pale-skinned man stands in front of a door-like opening set into a rocky cave against a deep landscape in this nearly square painting. The man, Jesus, has long reddish-blond hair, a red beard, and a disk-like gold halo. A muted lavender-purple cloth drapes over one shoulder, across his partially bare, muscular chest, and around his hips and legs. His right hand, to our left, is raised with the first two fingers lifted. A tall staff tucked into his other elbow has a long, white banner with a red cross, a forked end, and a red, plus-shaped cross finial. Behind Jesus, a rectangular doorway with molding is surrounded by craggy stone. The man stands on a chest-shaped stone tomb, and a white stone slab lies across the ground in front of it. Six men with pale skin lightly tinged with gray lie under and around the slab. They wear armor in shades of canary yellow, rose pink, aquamarine blue, violet, and orange. Five of them lie with legs and arms akimbo and one, to our right, props himself on one elbow and looks up at Jesus. Pebbles are strewn in a loose line across the ground along the bottom edge of the composition. Rivers zigzag back through more rocky formations and mountains to a town in the deep distance to the right and pale blue mountains along the horizon, which comes three-quarters of the way up this composition. A few thin clouds drift across the sky that deepens from pale yellow over the mountains to deep blue across the top edge of the painting,
Benvenuto di Giovanni, The Resurrection, probably 1491, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.55

The Resurrection

Benvenuto di Giovanni · probably 1491 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.55

Dozens of people line up around a shed-like structure and around stone ruins to kneel before a woman and baby at the lower center of this circular painting. All the people have pale skin. The crowd gathers along a pathway that winds around a rocky mountain at the top middle of the composition. Most of the people are on foot but a few ride horses or camels. The line of people curves around and through an arched opening in a stone ruin to our left. Sitting at the center of the painting, behind the woman and baby, Mary and Jesus, the structure is open at the front and has a triangular pitched roof. Some of the people, including the three closest to Mary and Jesus, wear elegant, gold-trimmed clothing. Others wear simple tunics, and several people standing along the ruins in the middle distance wear only white loincloths. Ages of the people range from young and cleanshaven to older and bearded. Their costumes are mostly pale yellow, coral orange, crimson red, shell pink, or sky blue. Some people raise their heads and hands while others hold hands to their chests and close their eyes. Mary wears a pale blue robe over a blush-pink dress. Jesus is nude and an older man standing nearby wears an apricot-colored robe over a blue tunic. The older man, Mary, and Jesus have gold halos. A peacock and two other birds stand on the roof of the manger, which shelters an ox, ass, and horses.
Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi, The Adoration of the Magi, c. 1440/1460, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.2

The Adoration of the Magi

Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi · c. 1440/1460 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1952.2.2

A young woman sits with a small child standing on her lap on an ornate throne as a third person, tiny in scale, kneels and looks up from the lower left corner in this tall, narrow, vertical painting, which has an arched top. The woman and child have pale skin and flat gold halos behind their heads, and the tiny person near the corner has light brown skin. The woman’s body faces us and her head tilts to her right, our left, toward the child, but she cuts her pale eyes down and slightly to our right. She has a delicate, long nose and her small lips are closed in a straight line. A white veil covering blond hair is, in turn, covered with a midnight-blue mantle that falls over her head, shoulders, and body. The underside of her cloak is emerald green where it turns back down over her chest and across her lap. The bottom hem is lined with a wide decorative band with scrolling vines and leaves in gold, and it pools around her feet on the floor. She wears a raspberry-red dress with gold vines over the chest and pearls lining the neckline. With her left hand, on our right, she supports the child on one hip. Her other hand braces the stem of the green apple the baby holds in both hands. Short, blond curls frame the baby’s face. He looks up and to our right with light eyes. He has a short, rounded nose and his lips are parted. His head is large like a baby's, but the proportions of his torso, arms, and legs more closely resemble those of an adult. He wears a pale, rose-pink tunic edged with gold, and his legs and feet are bare. The elaborate throne has an arched top that mirrors the top edge of the arched panel. An inscription in the stone up along the curve of the throne reads, “MEMENTO MEI MATER DEI REGINA CELI LETARE.” A garland of pale green and red fruit, probably apples, hangs behind the woman’s head. There are fantastical creatures where the arms of the throne would be. Carved from the same nickel-gray stone, each arm is made up of dog's face, with mouth wide open and braced against the seat of the chair. A husk-like covering curves up and back to a section of fish's scales, and each arm ends with an ornament like a bunch of grapes where it meets the back. A scarlet-red cloth hangs behind the thorne, against a gold wall, with a salmon-pink floor below. The miniature kneeling man near the lower right corner is only ankle high. His dark hair is cut into a ring around his head. He has a darker complexion and wrinkles around his mouth. He wears long, topaz-blue garment over a black robe. He holds his hands in prayer and looks up at the woman and baby, lips parted. Scaled to the woman, a jeweled crown sits on the floor nearby, projecting behond the front face of a panel of stone with a shell painted at its center.
Carlo Crivelli, Madonna and Child Enthroned with Donor, 1470, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.6

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Donor

Carlo Crivelli · 1470 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.6