Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist, St. Francis, and Three Angels
Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist, St. Francis, and Three Angels
- Artist
- Attributed to Fra Bartolommeo
- Artist Dates
- 1472-1517
- Artist Nationality
- Italian
- Title
- Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist, St. Francis, and Three Angels
- Date
- c. 1510
- Medium
- oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 117.2 x 116.2 cm (46-1/8 x 45-3/4 in)
- K Number
- K148
- Repository
- Columbia Museum of Art
- Accession Number
- CMA 1954.3
- Notes
Provenance
(Charles Fairfax Murray [1849-1919], London and Florence). [1] Achillito Chiesa, Milan; (his sale, American Art Galleries, New York,16 April 1926, no. 49); D.W. Walters. (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi [1878-1955] Rome-Florence); sold to Samuel H. Kress [1863-1955] on 15 July 1931; gift to the National Gallery of Art in 1939; deaccessioned 1952 and returned to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation; gift to Columbia Museum of Art in 1961, no. CMA 1954.3. [1]The painting was not included in sales from Fairfax Murray's estate held at Christie's, London, 30 January - 2 February 1920; Sotheby's, London, 10 May 1922. There is no mention of the painitng in the Charles Fairfax Murray Papers held at the Rylands Library in Manchester, UK [call number: GB 133 ENG MSS1278-1283]
Catalogue Entry
Attributed to Fra Bartolommeo
Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist, St. Francis, and Three Angels
K148
Columbia, S.C., Columbia Museum of Art (54-402/11), since 1954.(1) Wood. Diameter, 46 in. (116.9 cm.). Very good condition except for some restoration. Relationship of K148 to some of Fra Bartolommeo's drawings, especially one in the Uffizi, Florence,(2) has been noted. The composition is, in any case, so characteristic of his style that there would seem to be no need of hesitancy in attributing the design to him (about 1510), whether or not the painting was executed by another, either Albertinelli or a pupil.(3) The adoring saint at the left is Francis; the Infant St. John, at the right, offers a pomegranate to the Christ Child. Provenance: Charles Fairfax Murray, London. Achillito Chiesa, Milan (sold, American Art Galleries, New York, Apr. 16, 1926, no. 49 of catalogue, as by Fra Bartolommeo in collaboration with Albertinelli; bought by D. W. Walters). Contini Bonacossi, Florence. Kress acquisition, 1931 – exhibited: 'Italian Paintings Lent by Mr. Samuel H. Kress,' Oct. 1932, Atlanta, Ga., through June 1935, Charlotte, N.C., p. 22 of catalogue, as Fra Bartolommeo; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (176), 1941-52.(4)
References
(1) Catalogue by W. E. Suida, 1954, p. 31, and by A. Contini Bonacossi, 1962, pp. 83 f, as Fra Bartolommeo. (2) The Uffizi drawing is reproduced by B. Berenson, Drawings of the Florentine Painters, vol. III, 1938, fig. 437. Suida (see note 1, above) thinks that X-ray shows the artist's original design to have been even closer to the Uffizi drawing than is the finished painting. (3) G. Fiocco, R. Longhi, R. van Marle, and A. Venturi (in ms. opinions) attribute K148 to Fra Bartolommeo. F. M. Perkins (in ms. opinion) believes the design to be by Fra Bartolommeo, the execution by a pupil, while Berenson (Italian Pictures ... Florentine School, vol. I, 1963, p. I) attributes the painting to Albertinelli. (4) Preliminary Catalogue, 1941, p. I, as Albertinelli and Fra Bartolommeo.
Catalogue Volume
Italian Paintings XV – XVI Century