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Overview

"Remember me, O Mother of God. O Queen of Heaven, rejoice." These words, taken from an Easter psalm sung in the Virgin's honor, appear on the golden arch at the top of Carlo Crivelli's Madonna and Child Enthroned with Donor. The donor, the Albanian ecclesiastic Prenta di Giorgio, kneels in prayer near the Virgin's crown.

Crivelli's painting originally constituted the central section of a polyptych in the parish church at Porto San Giorgio, near Fermi. The crisp, sculptural forms reflect Crivelli's probable training in the humanist center of Padua. Yet the manner in which Crivelli's figures are modeled in light and shade also expresses a broader Renaissance concern with direct observation of nature.

Crivelli's very personal, almost metallic style must in large part be explained by the events of his life. He was born in Venice where the Gothic tradition lingered well into the fifteenth century. After spending some time in Padua, he settled in the Marches on the Adriatic, and there remained relatively unaffected by new trends.

Inscription

on the arch of the throne: MEMENTO.MEI.MATER.DEI.REGINA.CELI.LETARE (Remember me, O Mother of God, O Queen of Heaven rejoice!; _Regina Coeli_ from an Easter antiphon)

Provenance

Church of San Giorgio, Porto San Giorgio (the port of Fermo); recorded in 1771 and probably remained in the church until it was demolished in 1803; temporarily in the church of the Suffragio, then with the Salvadori family, Porto San Giórgio, by 1832; installed 1834 in the rebuilt church of San Giorgio; sold by Luigi Salvadori, then resold 1835 by the prior of the commune of Porto San Giorgio, to Henry Hudson, Portuguese embassy, Rome.[1] William Ward, 1st earl of Dudley [1817-1885, created earl 1860], Witley Court, Worcestershire, by 1851; (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 7 April 1876, no. 135 [same lot as four other panels from Porto San Giórgio polyptych]); purchased by (Martin Colnaghi, London).[2] Sir Francis Cook, 1st bt. [1817-1901], Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey; by inheritance to his son, Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 2nd bt. [1844-1920], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd bt. [1868-1939], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th bt. [1907-1978], Doughty House and Cothay Manor, Somerset; sold 31 October 1944 through (Francis A. Drey, London) to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1952 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1851
Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London, 1851.
1902
Exhibition of Works by The Old Masters. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1902, no. 20, as Virgin and Child.
1912
A Collection of Pictures of the Early Venetian School and Other Works of Art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1912, no. 2 (no. 7 and pl. VI of illustrated catalogue, titled Early Venetian Pictures and Other Works of Art).
1930
Exhibition of Italian Art 1200-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1930, no. 205 (no. 193 in commemorative catalogue published 1931; not in souvenir catalogue).
1946
Recent Additions to the Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no. 794.
2015
Ornament & Illusion: Carlo Crivelli of Venice, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 2015-2016, no. 4, repro.
2016
Carlo Crivelli, A Renaissance Original, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, 2016, no catalogue.

Bibliography

1834
Ricci, Amico. Memorie storiche delle arti e degli artisti della Marca di Ancona. 2 vols. Macerata, 1834: 1:209, 227 n. 12.
1851
“Lord Ward’s Collection of Pictures.” Athenaeum no. 1236 (5 July 1851): 723.
1854
Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss.. 3 vols. London, 1854: 2:235.
1871
Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle. A History of Painting in North Italy. 2 vols. London, 1871: 1:91 n. 3.
1900
Rushforth, G. McNeil. Carlo Crivelli. London, 1900: 16-17, 43, 96-97.
1901
Berenson, Bernard. The Study and Criticism of Italian Art. London, 1901: 101-102.
1901
Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell’arte italiana. 11 vols. Milan, 1901-1940: 7, part 3(1914):364-370, 372, fig. 284.
1902
Cook, Herbert. “Pitture italiane esposte a Burlington House.” L’Arte 5 (1902): 114, repro.
1903
Cook, Francis. Abridged Catalogue of the Pictures at Doughty House, Richmond. London, 1903: 12.
1907
Venturi, Lionello. Le origine della pittura veneziana 1300-1500. Venice, 1907: 194.
1911
Gnoli, Umberto. “Opere sconosciute di Pietro Alemanno.” Rassegna d’Arte 11, no. 12 (December 1911): 206, repro.
1912
Fry, Roger E. “Exhibition of Pictures of the Early Venetian School at the Burlington Fine Arts Club. Part 1.” The Burlington Magazine 21 (April 1912): 48.
1913
Borenius, Tancred. A Catalogue of the Paintings at Doughty House, Richmond, and Elsewhere in the Collection of Sir Frederick Cook Bt. Italian Schools. Vol. I, Pt. 2. Edited by Herbert Cook. London, 1913: 156, no. 131, pl. 18.
1915
Testi, Laudedeo. La storia della pittura veneziana. 2. Il devenire. Bergamo, 1915: 605-606, 670-671, repro.
1916
Berenson, Bernard. Venetian Painting in America . New York, 1916: 19.
1923
Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 18(1936):5-7, repro.
1927
Drey, Franz. Carlo Crivelli und seine Schule. Munich, 1927: 50, 122, pl. 6.
1932
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932: 162.
1936
Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936: 140.
1945
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 79, repro.
1946
Frankfurter, Alfred M. Supplement to the Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1946: 36, repro.
1946
Longhi, Roberto. Viatico per cinque secoli di pittura veneziana. Florence, 1946: 57.
1947
Friedmann, Herbert. “The Symbolism of Crivelli’s Madonna and Child Enthroned with Donor in the National Gallery.” Gazette des Beaux-Arts 32 (September-October 1947): 65-72, repro.
1951
Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 74-75, repro.
1952
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 46, color repro.
1952
Zampetti, Pietro. Carlo Crivelli nelle marche. Urbino, 1952: 72.
1954
Godfrey, Frederick M. Early Italian Painters, 1415-1495. London, 1954: 20, pl. 34.
1957
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Venetian School. 2 vols. London, 1957: 1:71, pl. 12.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 128, repro.
1961
Bovero, Anna. Tutta la pittura del Crivelli. Milan, 1961: 19-20, 55-56, pl. 15.
1961
Brugnoli, Maria Vittoria. “La mostra del Crivelli a Venezia.” Bollettino d’Arte 46, no. 3 (1961): 286, 287, repro.
1961
Davies, Martin. National Gallery Catalogues. The Earlier Italian Schools. London, 1961: 168-169.
1961
Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 52, color repro. pl. 48.
1961
Zampetti, Pietro. Carlo Crivelli. Milan, 1961: 13, 15, 72-74, pl. 17.
1961
Zampetti, Pietro, ed. Carlo Crivelli e i crivelleschi. Exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1961: 32.
1962
Longhi, Roberto. “Crivelli e Mantegna: Due mostre interferenti e la cultura del 1961.” Paragone 8, no. 145 (January 1962): 13-14.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 302, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 35.
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:148, color repro.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 28, repro.
1968
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 34-35, fig. 80.
1972
Davies, Martin. Carlo Crivelli. Themes and Painters in the National Gallery [London], no. 4. London, 1972: 23.
1972
Di Provvido, Sandra. La pittura di Vittore Crivelli. L’Aquila, 1972: 18.
1974
Bovero, Anna. L’opera completa del Crivelli. Milan, 1974: 85-86, repro.
1974
Hendy, Philip. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Boston, 1974: 66.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 88, repro.
1977
Levi d'Ancona, Mirella. The Garden of the Renaissance: Botanical Symbolism in Italian Painting. Florence, 1977: 52.
1978
Fahy, Everett. “Italian Paintings at Fenway Court and Elsewhere.” The Connoisseur 198, no. 795 (May 1978): 34, 35, repro.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:150-151; 2:pl. 106.
1979
Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 31, pl. 14.
1981
Flack, Audrey. “On Carlo Crivelli.” Arts 55, no. 10 (June 1981): 94-95
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 116, no. 96, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 107, repro.
1986
Zampetti, Pietro. Carlo Crivelli. Florence, 1986: 15, 23, 25-26, 30, 32, 36, 39-41, 254-257, pl. 6.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 19, repro.
1993
Gagliardi, Jacques. La conquête de la peinture: L’Europe des ateliers du XIIIe au XVe siècle. Paris, 1993: 517.
2003
Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 230-235, color repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 26, no. 19, color repro.
2004
Lightbown, Ronald. Carlo Crivelli. New Haven and London, 2004: 109-115, 117, 128, 141, 149, 151, fig, 24.
2005
Costanzi, Costanza, ed. Le Marche disperse: repertorio di opere d’arte dalle Marche al mondo. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 2005: 159, cat. 162, pl. 74.
2009
Tosato, Debora. “La prima attività di Crivelli tra Venezia, Padova e le Marche.” In Emanuela Daffra, ed. Crivelli e Brera. Exh. cat. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 2009: 65-66.
2010
Di Stefano, Emanuela. “Tappeti e tessuti nel commercio intercontinentale. Il ruolo delle Marche fra XIV e XVI secolo.” In Moshe Tabibnia, Tiziana Marchesi, and Elena Piccoli, eds. Crivelli e l’arte tessile. I tappeti e i tessuti di Carlo Crivelli. Milan, 2010: 59, fig. 46.
2010
Nuttall, Geoffrey. “The Studiolo of Paolo Guinigi: Valois Influence in Early Renaissance Italy.” Studiolo: Revue d’histoire de l’arte de l’académie de France 8 (2010): 46, fig. 6.
2011
Coltrinari, Francesca. “Note e precisazioni sulla prima attività di Carlo Crivelli nelle Marche.” Incontri 1 (2011): 157-159.
2011
Coltrinari, Francesca. “Vittore e Carlo Crivelli. Due vite parallele.” In Francesca Coltrinari and Alessandro Delpriori, eds. Vittore Crivelli: Da Venezia alle Marche. Maestri del Rinascimento in Appennino. Exh. cat. Palazzo del Popolo, Sarnano, 2011: 49-53, fig. 4.
2015
Campbell, Stephen J. “On the Importance of Crivelli.” In Stephen J. Campbell, ed. Ornament & Illusion: Carlo Crivelli of Venice. Exh. cat. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 2015: 18.
2015
Golsenne, Thomas. “Carlo Crivelli: Portrait of the Artist as a Cucumber.” In Stephen J. Campbell, ed. Ornament & Illusion: Carlo Crivelli of Venice. Exh. cat. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 2015: 84-85, 91, fig. 40.
2017
Golsenne, Thomas. Carlo Crivelli et le matérialisme mystique du Quattrocento. Rennes, 2017: 18, 132, 146-147, 185, 195, figs. 8, 71.

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