Diptych with Portraits of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, First Duke of Milan, and His Wife Caterina di Bernabὸ Visconti, probably late 18th or early 19th century

Not on View

Medium

Polychrome diptych of wood and precious stones, two oval nielloed silver plates with traces of gilding

Dimensions

overall (open): 8.2 × 14.4 × 1.3 cm (3 1/4 × 5 11/16 × 1/2 in.)
overall (closed): 8.2 × 7.2 × 2.7 cm (3 1/4 × 2 13/16 × 1 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Samuel H. Kress Collection

Accession Number

1961.9.171.a-d

Artists / Makers

Italian 18th/19th Century (artist)

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Provenance

Possibly (Alvise Albrizzi, 1771- after 1841, Venice, 1831; [1] Sanquirico Brothers, Venice, by 1833; [2] Trivulzio Collection, Milan 1833-1935; [3] (Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, 1878-1955, Rome and Florence) ;[4] purchased 26 June 1935 by Samuel H. Kress (1863-1955), New York; gift 27 September 1950 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[5] gift 1961 to NGA.

[1] Laura Aldovini, I Nielli Trivulzio. Storia, Tecnica, Collezionismo,Milan, 2021: 246.

[2] Aldovini, I Nielli Trivulzio, 246.

[3] Aldovini, I Nielli Trivulzio, 246.

[4] The bill of sale included sculptures, maiolicas, furniture, antique velvets, paintings, and enamels, for a total of one hundred objects. Copy in NGA curatorial files. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, (https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/acquisitions/ACQ143).

[5] An affidavit of 21 August 1956 by Herbert L. Spencer, executive director, Samuel H. Kress Foundation, states the Trivulzio collection of nielli and enamels were given by Samuel H. Kress to the Foundation on 27 September 1950; original in National Gallery of Art Archives. Secretary and General Counsel Records – Major Donor Files; copy in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Albrizzi, Alvise
Contini Bonacossi, Alessandro, Count
Kress Foundation, Samuel H.
Kress, Samuel H.
Sanquirico Brothers
Trivulzio collection

Exhibition History

1874: Esposizione storica dell’arte industriale, Salone dei Giardini di Porta Venezia, Milan, 1874, no. 48

Bibliography

2021: Aldovini, Laura. I Nielli Trivulzio. Storia, Tecnica, Collezionismo. Milan, 2021: 108-109, 173, 246-247, 278-279, no. 83, fig. 64, pl. XXII.