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FEATURING
THE SAMUEL H. KRESS COLLECTION
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Lippo
Vanni, Italy, active 1344-1376
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Donors and Saints Dominic
and Elizabeth of Hungary, ca. 1343
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| Lippo
Vanni was a follower of the Sienese artists, Simone Martini,
Lippo Memmi, and the Lorenzetti. This triptych depicts St.
Dominic, on the left, carrying lillies and St. Elizabeth of
Hungary, on the right, holding an apron filled with roses.
The central panel features the Madonna and Christ Child enthroned.
The donors kneeling on the floor by the Madonna’s throne
may be Queen Elizabeth of Hungary and her son, Prince Andreas
of the French house of Anjou, who wears a cap and robe covered
with fleurs-de-lis. The altarpiece may date from 1343, the
year Queen Elizabeth visited Italy in a vain attempt to have
Andreas crowned King of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem. |
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Guidoccio
Cozzarelli, Italy,
1450-1516 or 1617
The Annunciation and the Journey to Bethlehem,
ca. 1480-1490
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| The
Annunciation and the Journey to Bethlehem originally
formed the upper right-hand corner of a large altarpiece,
the exact format of which is unknown. The two scenes were
part of the series illustrating either the infancy of Christ
or the life of the Virgin, which may have served as the backdrop
to an image of the Madonna and Child Enthroned; in that case,
the cornice and pilaster at the far left of the panel may
have been part of the Virgin’s throne. However, it is
more likely that the foreground of the picture was occupied
by a scene of the Nativity. This is suggested by the lower
edge of the classical entablature, which, before it was partially
repainted by an overzealous restorer, appeared as a ruin.
The works of Cozzarelli, a painter of miniatures, altarpieces,
and cassone panels (secular paintings used to decorate furniture),
are frequently confused with those of his presumed master,
Matteo di Giovanni (active 1452-1495). The format of Cozzarelli’s
paintings and his feeling for decorative detail and textural
richness are in the Sienese stylistic tradition, but his interest
in perspective, naturalistic movement, classical architecture,
and antique ornamentation reflects the significant influence
of contemporary Florentine art. |
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Bernardino
Fungai, Italy, 1460-1516
Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels,
ca. 1510-1515
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Large
round paintings of the Madonna and Child in a landscape setting
accompanied by saints and angels became popular in Tuscany in
the late 15th-century. In Fungai’s composition, the infant
Christ is being carried by angels on a litter decorated with
red and white roses, flowers sacred to the Virgin. This unusual
motif symbolizes the marriage of Christ, the bridegroom, with
his bride, Mary-Ecclesia (the Church), who tenderly touches
the chin of her beloved. Witnessing this union is Mary Magdalene,
covered with the long hair she grew during her thirty years
in the desert as a penitent. Four other saints known for their
austere devotion and retirement into the wilderness are also
included: John the Baptist and Jerome standing behind the ruined
Roman wall, St. Francis receiving the stigmata (the wounds of
Christ), and Christopher crossing a stream with the infant Christ
on his back.
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Jacob
Jordaens, Flanders, 1593-1678
The Judgment of Paris, ca. 1620-1625
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| Painted
early in his career, during the period when Jordaens worked
as an associate in Peter Paul Rubens’s workshop, The
Judgment of Paris illustrates the important moment in classical
history when the shepherd Paris, called upon by Zeus to decide
who among three goddesses was to receive the golden apple inscribed
“for the fairest,” awarded the fruit to Aphrodite,
thereby precipitating the Trojan War. The three nude goddesses
– Aphrodite (to the right), Hera (in the center), and
Athena (shown from the back) – as well as the female personification
of Abundance holding aloft a larger cornucopia, are believed
to be representations of Jordaens’s young wife, the daughter
of his former teacher, Adam van Noort. Jordaens’s illustration
of the story is distinguished by down-to-earth, humorous details,
such as Mercury’s peasant hat with wings, and the mock
battle between Paris’s dog and Athena’s eagle-shaped
helmet. |
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