Provenance

Sir John Charles Robinson

British, 1824 - 1913

Explore selected works

See all 42 works of art
Shown from the hips up, a young boy with pale, peachy skin wears a voluminous, black cloak that nearly falls off his shoulders over a rose-pink tunic, with a sword hanging from one hip in this vertical portrait painting. His body is angled slightly to our right, and he looks off to our left with dark brown eyes under gently arched brows. He has a wide nose, and his pink lips are closed with the corners pulled slightly back. His skin is smooth and his cheeks slightly flushed. His dark brown hair is cut close and comes to a point in front of his ears. His tunic is painted with dusky pink highlights against wine-red to suggest a sheen across a vertically striped, leafy pattern. The garment has a high neck lined with a white ruffle and has a row of buttons down the front. His black coat has wide lapels that reach beyond his shoulders, and the puffy sleeves gather on his arms. The coat has a silvery-white cross over the chest to our right. The left and right arms of the cross are lost in the folds but the arms at the top and bottom are forked at the ends. The boy’s pine-green belt is edged with gold, and the hilt of the sword is angled toward us on his left hip, to our right. He holds one fawn-brown glove in his right hand, to our left, and his other arm disappears behind the folds of his coat. The background is deep olive green, almost brown. The artist signed the painting with dark paint near the right edge of the canvas near the boy’s shoulder, “TITANVS F.”
Titian, Ranuccio Farnese, 1541-1542, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.11

Ranuccio Farnese

Titian · 1541-1542 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1952.2.11

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

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

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

Shown from the shoulders up, a man and woman face our left in profile against a shadowy, dark green curtain in this vertical portrait painting. They both look steadily to our left, they and have pale skin and wear black. The man is closer to us so he overlaps the woman, whose profile is shifted to our left. A black cap sits on the man's curly, silver, shoulder-length hair. He has a slight double chin and soft jowls. A thin mustache curves over his upper lip, and a line of hair runs down his chin as a narrow beard. A broad, flat, white collar lies across his shoulders over a velvety black coat. He lifts his left hand, closer to us, in front of his chest with the fingers curled gently inward. The woman also has a double chin and soft jowls. Her thin lips are closed and downturned. Her hair is pulled back under a black covering, and her black garment has a sheen, suggesting satin.
Jan de Bray, Portrait of the Artist's Parents, Salomon de Bray and Anna Westerbaen, 1664, oil on panel, Gift of Joseph F. McCrindle in memory of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Feder, 2001.86.1

Portrait of the Artist's Parents, Salomon de Bray and Anna Westerbaen

Jan de Bray · 1664 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  2001.86.1

Two muscular men lean away, whips raised, from a third man tied to a freestanding column, in a courtyard-like space in front of a deep landscape in this vertical painting. At the center of the composition, the pale-skinned man bound to the column, Jesus, stands with his body facing us. He turns his head to our right, perhaps looking at the man to that side. Jesus is cleanshaven, and his long brown hair falls back behind his shoulders. A delicate gold ring creates a halo, with red spokes to the top and sides. Ropes wrap around his upper arms, and he is nude except for a blue cloth around his hips. The column is mottled with tan and pale pink, and is topped with a gold, leafy capital. To each side, the men with the whips have more tan skin than Jesus. They stand in the same pose as each other, with their weight mostly in their right legs, and right hands raised with the whips. But the man to our left stands with his body facing us, and the one to our right stands with his back to us, so they each lean away from Jesus. The man to our left wears a pink cloth tied around his waist but is otherwise nude. His mouth is wide open, and his free hand reaches across his chest. His royal-blue cap is decorated with lavender-purple and gold ribbons and plumes. The man to our right is nude except for a parrot-green cap wrapped with a band of orange, like a turban. The area in which they stand has a floor patterned with butter yellow and white. On the far side of the courtyard, a central arch is flanked by one to each side, which are cut off by the left and right edges of the composition. The entablature running across the top of the arches is parallel to the top edge of the painting. The landscape beyond has grassy, rolling hills dotted with trees, reaching back to hazy blue mountains along the horizon. The sky above deepens from pale blue over the mountains to azure blue across the top, seen through the arches. Several vertical cracks are visible on the surface of the panel.
Bachiacca, The Flagellation of Christ, c. 1512/1515, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.81

The Flagellation of Christ

Bachiacca · c. 1512/1515 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.81

This nearly square painting is visually divided into three vertical zones, with a pergola-like structure occupied by two people at the center taking up the most space, and narrower scenes with more people to either side. All the people have light, peachy skin tinged in some areas with pale green. The central structure has a shallow roof and several types of arched openings—some rounded and some pointed, all of different sizes. A winged angel to the left under the structure has curly blond hair and wears a shell-pink, floor-length robe. A seated woman to our right wears a lapis-blue dress and a white head covering. She sits with her forearms crossed over her chest, her hands in front of her shoulders. Both have plate-like, gold halos. Two arched openings at the back of the structure lead into rooms beyond. In the left quarter of the painting, a nude man and woman are pushed through an arched gateway by a winged angel with a gold halo. A bearded, haloed man looks down from a gold cloud above. Forest-green trees line the garden at the back and flowers and rabbits fill the space around the people’s feet. To our right, a balding, bearded man warms his hands at a fire in a room beyond the central structure. He wears rose pink and has a gold halo.
Giovanni di Paolo, The Annunciation and Expulsion from Paradise, c. 1435, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.223

The Annunciation and Expulsion from Paradise

Giovanni di Paolo · c. 1435 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.223

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 woman holds the hands of two nude children in front of a crimson-red cloth in this vertical painting. All three have pale skin and brown hair. The woman wears a forest-green dress with voluminous sleeves and a gauzy white headdress that wraps around her hair and is fastened with a band across her forehead. She stands crouching with one foot extended slightly forward in a sandal, surrounded by broken chunks of masonry and bits of burning logs. Her body faces us but she turns her head to the right. Her mouth is wide open, and her eyes cut back to our left. The woman clutches the children’s hands in both of her own. The child to our left turns away from us and reaches one hand up to touch the back of the woman’s hand. The child on the right twists away from the woman, eyes squinted up and to the right and mouth open. Behind them, fold lines create a grid across the red cloth. Slivers of grass and blue sky line each side of the composition.
Ercole de' Roberti, The Wife of Hasdrubal and Her Children, c. 1490/1493, tempera on poplar panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1965.7.1

The Wife of Hasdrubal and Her Children

Ercole de' Roberti · c. 1490/1493 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1965.7.1

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