The Capitoline Wolf Suckling Romulus and Remus
The Capitoline Wolf Suckling Romulus and Remus
- Artist
- Central Italian 15th or 16th Century (Possibly Roman 15th or 16th Century)
- Artist Dates
- 15th or 16th century
- Artist Nationality
- Italian
- Title
- The Capitoline Wolf Suckling Romulus and Remus
- Date
- late 15th - early 16th century
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- wolf: 38 x 64.2 x 15.9 cm (14-15/16 x 25-1/4 x 6-1/4 in)
- K Number
- K1382
- Repository
- National Gallery of Art
- Accession Number
- 1957.14.8
- Notes
Provenance
Friedrich Augustus I, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony; [1] presented 1826 to Baron Wittinghoff [Vietinghoff], Adjutant General, Dresden; Camillo Castiglioni, Vienna, 1923; (his sale, Frederik Muller & Co., Amsterdam, 18 November 1925, no. 10). (Jacob Hirsch Antiquities, New York); sold 1944 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York; gift 1957 to National Gallery of Art. [1] The first known reference to ownership by Friedrich Augustus I and an 1826 presentation to Wittinghoff is in the Jacob Hirsch sale receipt to the Kress Foundation, dated 24 April 1944, copy in NGA curatorial files; that receipt also declares that “According to tradition in the Baron Wittinghoff family” the sculpture was acquired in Siena around 1740 by Guarienti on behalf of Augustus I. The 1925 Castiglioni sale catalogue simply cites “Freiherr von Vittinghof [Vietinghoff], Dresden” as the former owner. An alternate early provenance is suggested by Dorothea Diemer, who proposed that the Washington group might be identical with a version listed as no. 2433 (2393) in the inventory of the Münchner Kunstkammer in 1598: “Ein alte Lupa Romana den Romulum und Remum saugent, auf einem hochen Posament in metal gossen.” (See Dorothea Diemer, Peter Diemer, Lorenz Seelig, Peter Volk, Brigitte Volk-Knüttel et al., eds., _Die Münchner Kunstkammer. Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, philosophisch-historische Klasse, Abhandlungen, NF_, Heft 129, 3 vols., Munich, 2008: 2:723).