Portrait of a Young Woman, c. 1508

Provenance

Cav. Antonio Piccolomini Bellanti, Siena, by 1811; by inheritance 1895 to his daughter, Signora Ciaccheri, Siena; presumably by whom sold 1895 to (Charles Fairfax Murray [1849-1919], London and Florence); sold November 1895 to (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, stock no. 7418); sold November 1895 to George M. Salting [1835-1909], London; sold September 1903 back to (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, stock no. 1005) in joint ownership with (Charles Fairfax Murray); sold February 1905 to William Newall.[1] (Trotti et Cie., Paris); sold 1911 to Arthur Sanderson, Edinburgh; (Sanderson sale, Knight, Frank, and Rutley, London, 14-16 June 1911, 3rd day, no. 621, as Petrarch's Laura); purchased by (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London) for Robert Henry [1850-1929] and Evelyn Holford [1856-1943] Benson, London and Buckhurst Park, Sussex;[2] sold 1927 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); sold 1937 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1939 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1904

Exhibition of Pictures of the School of Siena, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1904, no. 52.

1927

Loan Exhibition of the Benson Collection of Old Italian Masters, City of Manchester Art Gallery, 1927, no. 96.

1940

Italian Renaissance Portraits, M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1940, no. 13.

2001

Virtue and Beauty: Leonardo's 'Ginevra de' Benci' and Renaissance Portraits of Women, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2001-2002, no. 35, color repro.

Bibliography

1813

Cicognara, Leopoldo. Storia della scultura dal suo risorgimento in Italia fino al secolo di Napoleone. 3 vols. Venice, 1813: 1:412-413, pl. 43, as Laura, by Simone Martini.

1819

Petrarca, Francesco. Le rime del Petrarca. Ed. Antonio Marsand. 2 vols. Padua, 1819: 1:reverse of frontispiece, 348-353.

1821

Cicognara, Leopoldo. “Sul vero ritratto di Madonna Laura.” Giornale arcadico 35 (November 1821): 240-241, 245-246, as Laura, by Simone Martini.

1822

Meneghelli, Antonio. Sul presunto ritratto di Madonna Laura. Lettera. Padua, 1822: 1-29, as Laura, by Simone Martini.

1822

Review of Cicognara 1821 and Meneghelli 1822. Giornale sulle scienze e lettere delle provincie venete 16 (October 1822): 171-179.

1823

Cicognara, Leopoldo. Storia della scultura dal suo risorgimento in Italia fino al secolo di Napoleone. 2nd ed. 7 vols. Prato, 1823: 3:325, pl. 54, as Laura, by Simone Martini.

1824

Palmerini, Niccolò. Opere d’intaglio del Cav. Raffaello Morghen. Florence, 1824: 97-98, 108-129, 152, as Laura, by Simone Martini.

1885

Halsey, Frederic. Raphael Morghen’s Engraved Works. New York, 1885: 72-74, no. 85, as Laura, by Simone Martini.

1903

Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovan Battista Cavalcaselle. A History of Painting in Italy from the Second to the Sixteenth Century. 6 vols. Edited by Robert Langton Douglas (vols. 1-4) and Tancred Borenius (vols. 5-6). Vol. 3, The Sienese, Umbrian, and North Italian Schools. London, 1903-1914: 5(1914):165 n. 3.

1904

Frizzoni, Gustavo. “L’esposizione d’arte senese al Burlington Fine Ats Club.” L’Arte 7 (1904): 269-270.

1904

Fry, Roger. “La mostra d’arte senese al Burlington Club di Londra.” Rassegna d’Arte 4, no. 8 (1904): 118.

1904

Fry, Roger. “Sienese Art at the Burlington Fine Arts Club.” Athenaeum no. 3997 (4 June 1904): 729.

1914

Borenius, Tancred. Catalogue of Italian Pictures at 16 South Street, Parke Lane, London and Buckhurst in Sussex Collected by Robert and Evelyn Benson. London, 1914: 15-16, no. 10, repro.

1922

Nobili, Riccardo. The Gentle Art of Faking: A History of the Methods of Producing Imitations and Spurious Works of Art from the Earliest Times up to the Present Day. London, 1922: 191.

1923

Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 16(1937):430-431, fig. 249.

1927

Douglas, Robert Langton. “I dipinti senesi della collezione Benson passati da Londra in America.” Rassegna d’Arte Senese e del Costume 1/5, no. 3 (May – June 1927): 101-104, repro.

1927

Freund, Frank E. Washburn. “Die Sammlung Benson.” Der Cicerone 19, no. 16 (1927): 501, repro.

1928

Dussler, Luitpold. “Ein Bildnis von Girolamo di Benvenuto.” Pantheon 2 (August 1928): 379-381.

1931

Morrison, Richard C. “Some Paintings by Girolamo di Benvenuto.” Art in America 19, no. 3 (April 1931): 145-146.

1932

Joni, Icilio Federico. Le memorie di una pittore di quadri antichi. San Casciano in Val di Pesa, [1932]. Reprinted with a preface by Umberto Baldini. Florence, 1984: 273-274.

1932

Misciattelli, Pietro. “La donna senese del Rinascimento.” La Diana 2, no. 4 (1932): 228, repro.

1933

Venturi, Lionello. Italian Paintings in America. New York and Milan, 1933: 2:pl.301.

1936

Joni, Icilio Federico. Affairs of a Painter. London, 1936: 335-336.

1941

Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 123, repro., as Portrait of a Lady.

1941

Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 86, no. 446.

1942

Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 248, repro. 120.

1944

Frankfurter, Alfred M. The Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1944: 35, repro.

1945

Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 63, repro.

1949

Brandi, Cesare. Quattrocentisti senesi. Milan, 1949: 164, 273-274, pl. 244.

1951

Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 30 n. 1.

1955

Carli, Enzo. La pittura senese. Milan, 1955: 262.

1959

Buchner, Ernst. “Ein Jünglingsbildnis von Girolamo di Benvenuto.” In Hans Möhle, ed. Festschrift Friedrich Winkler. Berlin, 1959: 167-170, fig. 2.

1959

Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 85, repro.

1965

Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 59.

1966

Frederickson, Burton B., and Darrell Davisson. Benvenuto di Giovanni, Girolamo di Benvenuto, their altarpieces in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Malibu, CA, 1966: 33.

1966

Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 162-163, fig. 449.

1968

Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Central and North Italian Schools, 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:188.

1968

National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 51, repro.

1972

Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 92, 530, 646.

1975

European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 154, repro.

1978

Torriti, Piero. La Pinacoteca nazionale di Siena. I Dipinti dal XV al XVIII secolo. Genoa, 1978: 22.

1979

Bevilacqua, Alessandro. “Simone Martini, Petrarca, i ritratti di Laura e del poeta.” Bollettino del Museo Civico di Padova 68 (1979): 138-147.

1979

Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:224-226; 2:pl. 152.

1979

Sutton, Denys. "Robert Langton Douglas. Part I." Apollo 109 (April 1979): 311 [65] fig. 36, 312 [66].

1979

Zeri, Federico. “Girolamo di Benvenuto: Il completamento della Madonna delle Nevi.” Antologia di Belle Arti 3, no. 9/12 (December 1979): 50.

1984

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 182, no. 202, color repro.

1985

Cole, Bruce. Sienese Painting in the Age of the Renaissance. Bloomington, 1985: 147, fig. 95.

1985

European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 178, repro.

1990

Torriti, Piero. La Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena: i dipinti. 3rd ed. Genoa, 1990: 308.

1992

Os, H. W. van. Studies in Early Tuscan Painting. London, 1992: 25, fig. 18.

1993

Agosti, Giovanni. “Su Siena nell’Italia artistica del secondo Quattrocento (desiderata scherzo cartoline).” In Luciano Bellosi, ed. Francesco di Giorgio e il Rinascimento a Siena 1450-1500. Exh. cat. Chiesa di Sant’Agostino, Siena, 1993: 490, fig. 3.

1993

Levi, Donata. “Carlo Lasinio, Curator, Collector, Dealer.” The Burlington Magazine 135, no. 1079 (February 1993): 137-138.

2001

De Marchi, Andrea G. Falsi primitivi: prospettive critiche e metodi di esecuzione. Turin, 2001: 46.

2001

Mazzoni, Gianni. Quadri antichi del Novecento. Vicenza, 2001: 139, 147-149 n. 9.

2003

Alessi, Cecilia. La Confraternita ritrovata: Benvenuto di Giovanni e Girolamo di Benvenuto nello Spedale Vecchio di Siena. Asciano (Siena), 2003: 96.

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: 338-341, color repro.

2017

Tucker, Paul, and Jane Horton. “A Connoisseur and his Clients: The Correspondence of Charles Fairfax Murray with Frederic Burton, Wilhelm Bode and Julius Meyer (1867-1914).” The Volume of the Walpole Society 79 (2017): 20, 198, fig. 14.

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