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Bernard van Orley

Christ among the Doctors [obverse], c. 1513

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 41-A

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

painted surface: 54.4 x 33.3 cm (21 7/16 x 13 1/8 in.)
overall (panel): 54.9 x 33.3 cm (21 5/8 x 13 1/8 in.)

framed: 63 x 41.8 x 5.7 cm (24 13/16 x 16 7/16 x 2 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Samuel H. Kress Collection

Accession Number

1952.5.47.a

Artists / Makers

Bernard van Orley (artist) Netherlandish, c. 1488 - 1541

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

on the border of the red robe worn by the seated figure at the right: NVLLE ION.NE.M. ..

Provenance

Abbot Jacques Coëne [d. 1542], Marchiennes. (Paul Bottenwieser, Berlin); acquired January 1928 by (F. Kleinberger Galleries, Inc., New York and Paris);[1] sold 6 February 1928 to Albert J. Kobler [d. 1936], New York;[2] by inheritance to Mrs. Albert J. [Mignon Sommers] Kobler; by inheritance to her sons, John Kobler, Weston, Connecticut, and Jason S. Kobler, New York; consigned 18 June 1946 and sold 16 October 1947 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[3] purchased 1949 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1952 by exchange to NGA.

[1] Kleinberger Gallery stock card no. 15865, Department of European Paintings, Metropolitan Museum of Art (copy, NGA curatorial files).

[2] The provenance from this point forward has been revised since it was published in 1986 in the NGA's systematic catalogue Early Netherlandish Painting. Newspaper articles located by Patricia Teter, and documents found by Dan Jacobs in the Duveen Brothers Records (Getty Research Institute, Research Library, accession number 960015, reel 329, box 474, folder 3), all kindly copied for NGA curatorial files, give the details. The provenance published in 1986 included the name of Mrs. Edward A. Westfall, who was listed as a former owner in the catalogue of the 1946 exhibition at Duveen's; however, the documents in the Duveen Brothers Records show no evidence of Westfall ownership. Dan Jacobs rightly concludes that the use of Mrs. Westfall's name likely came about as the result of a dispute between the Internal Revenue Service and the Kobler estate (which had initially been reported as valued at only $5,000; see "A.J. Kobler estate is less than $5,000," The New York Times [19 May 1937]: 23). Edward Westfall, like Kobler an executive with the Hearst newspapers, was an honorary pallbearer at Kobler's funeral, so there was certainly a professional and social connection (see "200 Attend Services for Albert Kobler," The New York Times [4 January 1937]: 29). The correspondence with Dan Jacobs and Patricia Teter, from March, April, and June 2005, is in NGA curatorial files.

[3] The agreement for a consignment of nine paintings and two tapestries between the Kobler sons and Duveen Brothers was dated 22 April 1946, and the objects were delivered two months later on 18 June.

[4] See The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/502.

Associated Names

Bottenwieser, Paul
Coëne, Jacques, Abbot
Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Kleinberger Gallery
Kobler, Albert J.
Kobler, Albert J., Mrs.
Kobler, Jason S.
Kobler, John
Kress Foundation, Samuel H.

Exhibition History

1929: Loan Exhibition of Flemish Primitives, F. Kleinberger Galleries, New York, 1929, no. 86.

1946: An Exhibition of Flemish Paintings, Duveen Art Galleries, New York, 1946, no. 15.

2019: Bernard van Orley: Brussels and the Renaissance, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 2019, no. 6, repro.

Technical Summary

The painting is in very good condition. There are small, scattered retouchings, particularly in the upper portions of the architecture and the columns. Remnants of unpainted edges and a barbe indicate that the panel was painted in an engaged frame. A narrowing of the painted surface on the sides 9 cm from the bottom may indicate an irregularly shaped decorative frame. Examination with infrared reflectography reveals extensive underdrawing in both brush and what appears to be pen or chalk. There are large areas of cross hatching in the figures and the architecture. The young Jesus originally stood on a small round dais, and in the upper story of the loggia shallow arches are drawn underneath the horizontal lintel on either side of the portico.

The reverse has suffered more damage than has the front. There are large areas of loss and retouching in the putto's face and thigh and generally in the lower half of the painting. No underdrawing was made visible with infrared reflectography.

Bibliography

1907: Vollmer, Hans. "Orley, Bernart van." In Thieme-Becker. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 26(1932):49.

1924: Friedländer, Max J. Die altniederländische Malerei 14 vols.,1924-1937. Berlin, 1930: 8:86, 87, 167, no. 90, pl. 74-76. (English ed., 14 vols., 1967-1976. Leiden, 1972: 8:54,55, 103, no. 90, pl. 88.)

1929: Burrows, Carlyle. "Exhibition of Flemish Primitive Painting." Parnassus 1 (November 1929): 9.

1929: "Flemish Show Opens Today at Kleinbergers." Art News 28 (26 October 1929): 12, nos. 85, 86.

1929: "Partial List of Flemish Primitives in Kleinberger Show." Art News 28 (12 October 1929): 5.

1943: Lavalleye, Jacques. "Le Style du peintre Bernard van Orley." In Bernard van Orley 1488-1541. Brussels, 1943: 46.

1944: Baldass, Ludwig. "Die Entwicklung des Bernart van Orley." Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses (Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien) N.F. 13 (1944): 145.

1951: Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1945-1951. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951: 200, no. 88, repro.

1959: Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 287, repro.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 98.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 86, repro.

1969: Osten, Gert von der, and Horst Vey. Painting and Sculpture in Germany and the Netherlands 1500 to 1600. Harmondsworth, 1969: 145.

1973: Gelder, J. G. van. "Scorel, Mor, Bellegambe und Orley in Marchiennes." Oud Holland 87 (1973): 171-172, figs. 16-18.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 256, repro. 257.

1977: Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 81-82, figs. 76, 78.

1981: Farmer, John David. "Bernard van Orley of Brussels." Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1981: 49, 61, 63-65, 68-69, 79, 338, no. 90, figs. 19-21.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 130, no. 122, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 294, repro.

1986: Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 216-223, color repro. 219.