Mater Dolorosa and Saint John the Evangelist
Mater Dolorosa and Saint John the Evangelist
- Artist
- Michele di Matteo da Bologna
- Artist Dates
- active 1410-1469
- Artist Nationality
- Italian
- Title
- Mater Dolorosa and Saint John the Evangelist
- Date
- c. 1440
- Medium
- tempera and gilding on panel
- Dimensions
- left: 24.8 x 16.8 cm (9-3/4 x 6-5/8 in); right: 24.8 x 17.2 cm (9-3/4 x 6-3/4 in)
- K Number
- K1195
- Repository
- Museum of Art and Archaeology
- Accession Number
- 61.81
- Notes
Provenance
(Achille De Clemente [1874-1940], Florence). Enrico Marinucci, Rome. [1] (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi [1878-1955], Rome-Florence); sold to Samuel H. Kress [1863-1955] on 1 September 1939; gift to the Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri in 1961, n. 61.81. [1] Not included in Wilhelm Suida, "Italian Primitives in the Marinucci Collection in Rome," Apollo XX (September 1934), p. 122+. Nor does it appear to be included in a letter dated 1 October 1936 from an Enrico Cappiello, offering pictures on behalf of Marinucci to the director of the Wiliam Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, curatorial file for Tanzio da Varallo, 1944.2, copy NGA curatorial records). It is likely that those paintings came from the collection of Marinucci's uncle, Cardinal Pietro Gasparri [1852-1934].
Catalogue Entry
Michele di Matteo da Bologna
Mater Dolorosa and Saint John the Evangelist
K1195
Columbia, Mo., University of Missouri, Study Collection (61.81), since 1961. Wood. Left panel, 9 3/4 x 6 5/8 in. (24.8 x 16.8 em.); right panel, 9 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. (24.8 x 17.2 cm.). Good condition. These panels probably come from an altarpiece where they flanked a Crucifix or a half-length Christ in the Tomb. They are typical examples of Michele's emulation of Gentile da Fabriano's elegant style, with its profusion of decorative detail and flowing, voluminous drapery.(1) The pseudo Arabic border designs are like those on the Virgin's robe in Michele's Venice altarpiece. The faces, too, with their sharply pointed noses, are paralleled there and even more closely, perhaps, in the Coronation of the Virgin in the Massari Collection, Ferrara,(2) which is inscribed with Michele's name. K1195 probably dates about 1440. Provenance: De Clemente, Florence. Cav. Enrico Marinucci, Rome. Contini Bonacossi, Florence. Kress acquisition, 1939.
References
(1) B. Berenson, G. Fiocco, R. Longhi, F. M. Perkins, W. E. Suida, and A. Venturi (in ms. opinions) have attributed K1195 to Michele di Matteo. (2) Reproduced in R. van Marle, Italian Schools of Painting, vol. VII, 1926, fig. 145.