Past Exhibition

Anthony van Dyck

Light pours over a woman floating in front of a bank of clouds, surrounded by ten mostly nude, toddler-like winged putti in this vertical painting. The woman, Mary, and the putti all have pale, peachy skin. Mary's body faces us with her knees bent so her feet are lost in the clouds. She holds both hands out by her sides, palms facing out. Her head is tipped slightly back and to our right, and she looks up with light brown eyes, her pink lips parted. Her golden hair falls loosely in waves to her shoulders. Her pale blue, long-sleeved, voluminous garment is tied with a navy-blue ribbon that crosses her chest between her breasts and is presumably tied across her back. The ten child-like putti have rounded bellies, chubby limbs, and small, gold or silver wings at their shoulder blades. Five putti hover around Mary to each side. To our left, one putto plays with the end of Mary's blue ribbon while below, another holds a wooden cross near the lower left corner of the canvas. The putto holding the cross rests one foot on an iron-gray ball encircled with a gold band and topped with a gold cross. Another putto touches the top of the wooden cross and gestures toward Mary. Near her shoulder, one putto holds a ring of thorns above its head while another raises a ring of pink roses as if to place it on Mary's head. To our right, near Mary's head, a putto holds a piece of cloth like a handkerchief toward her face while one below holds a larger drapery around its head like a hooded cloak as it looks out at us and smiles. The two bottom-most putti hold Mary's fluttering dress and look up at her face. A streak of warm light pours down from the top center, casting yellow light on the tops of the powder-blue clouds.
Sir Anthony van Dyck, The Virgin as Intercessor, 1628/1629, oil on canvas, Widener Collection, 1942.9.88

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    West Building, Main Floor, Galleries 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83
Light pours over a woman floating in front of a bank of clouds, surrounded by ten mostly nude, toddler-like winged putti in this vertical painting. The woman, Mary, and the putti all have pale, peachy skin. Mary's body faces us with her knees bent so her feet are lost in the clouds. She holds both hands out by her sides, palms facing out. Her head is tipped slightly back and to our right, and she looks up with light brown eyes, her pink lips parted. Her golden hair falls loosely in waves to her shoulders. Her pale blue, long-sleeved, voluminous garment is tied with a navy-blue ribbon that crosses her chest between her breasts and is presumably tied across her back. The ten child-like putti have rounded bellies, chubby limbs, and small, gold or silver wings at their shoulder blades. Five putti hover around Mary to each side. To our left, one putto plays with the end of Mary's blue ribbon while below, another holds a wooden cross near the lower left corner of the canvas. The putto holding the cross rests one foot on an iron-gray ball encircled with a gold band and topped with a gold cross. Another putto touches the top of the wooden cross and gestures toward Mary. Near her shoulder, one putto holds a ring of thorns above its head while another raises a ring of pink roses as if to place it on Mary's head. To our right, near Mary's head, a putto holds a piece of cloth like a handkerchief toward her face while one below holds a larger drapery around its head like a hooded cloak as it looks out at us and smiles. The two bottom-most putti hold Mary's fluttering dress and look up at her face. A streak of warm light pours down from the top center, casting yellow light on the tops of the powder-blue clouds.
Sir Anthony van Dyck, The Virgin as Intercessor, 1628/1629, oil on canvas, Widener Collection, 1942.9.88

Overview: 86 paintings and 16 oil sketches from all periods of Van Dyck's career documented the full range of his work, from portraiture to religious and mythological paintings. The exhibition, brought together from Europe, the USSR, Canada, and the United States, marked the 350th anniversary of Van Dyck's death in 1641. An all-day symposium on Van Dyck was held on November 17.

Organization: Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque painting at the National Gallery, and Susan J. Barnes, senior curator of Western art at the Dallas Museum of Art, were exhibition curators. A committee assisted in the selection of the works: Christopher Brown, Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann, Julius S. Held, Roger d'Hulst, Irina Linnik, Annaliese Mayer-Meintschel, Sir Oliver Millar, and Hubertus Falkner von Sonnenburg. Gaillard Ravenel and Mark Leithauser designed the exhibition, and Gordon Anson designed the lighting.

Sponsor: An indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities supported the exhibition.

Attendance: 225,632

Catalog: Anthony van Dyck, by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. et al. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1990.

Brochure: Anthony van Dyck. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1990.

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