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Shown from the hips up against a landscape, a woman with pale skin, wearing a burgundy-red dress with marigold-orange sleeves and a sheer veil, sits facing our left in profile as she reads a small book in this vertical painting. She has a straight nose and peach-colored lips. Her blond hair is covered by a bone-white headdress tied over her forehead. The veil drapes over the headdress, and her head is encircled with a faint gold ring, creating a halo. Her dress has full sleeves and is cinched into pleats at the high waist. The neckline is edged with a band of nickel gray decorated with a pattern of circles and leafy forms. The book has a red cover with a red ribbon, and she holds one index finger between the pages. A low chalk-white stone wall beyond the woman suggests she sits on a porch or balcony. A swath of powder-blue fabric drapes over the ledge on which she sits near one knee. To our left, a sliver of a shoulder, elbow, and toes of one foot suggest a person with pale skin draped in midnight blue, leaning back against a maroon-red pillow with tassels at the corners, in front of the woman and to our left. Behind that second person, in the landscape beyond the balcony, barren branches of a tree twist against the sky while a second tree, to our right, has a leafy, green canopy. A mustard-yellow meadow lined with bushes leads to the water’s edge, where ice-blue water leads back to rolling hills along the horizon. A few white buildings and a tower are clustered on the opposite shore. White and gray clouds float against the pale blue sky.

The Virgin Reading, c. 1505

Vittore Carpaccio

Not on View

Carpaccio reimagined the Madonna and Child theme when he made this painting. Instead of wearing a traditional blue cloak, the Virgin Mary, or Madonna, is clothed in fashionable Venetian dress. Absorbed in her reading, she sits in an unconventional profile pose instead of looking out at viewers or attending to her infant son.

Today we only see a partial image of baby Jesus, resting on a pillow on the left. Scholars think the painting was cut down along the left side sometime in the 1700s. The picture’s original size and shape are unknown. The painting might have depicted only the Virgin and Child, or it might have been a larger work with other figures.

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Object Data

Medium

oil on panel transferred to canvas

Dimensions

overall: 78 × 51 cm (30 11/16 × 20 1/16 in.)

framed: 119.7 × 86.36 × 16.51 cm (47 1/8 × 34 × 6 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Samuel H. Kress Collection

Accession Number

1939.1.354

Artists / Makers

Vittore Carpaccio (artist) Venetian, c. 1465 - 1525/1526

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Detail Information

Provenance

Said to have been acquired in Italy by "the travelling Earl of Exeter," John Cecil, 5th earl of Exeter [d. 1700], Burghley House, Northamptonshire, between 1690 and 1700;[1] by inheritance, probably to his son, John Cecil, 6th earl of Exeter [1674-1721], Burghley House; by inheritance, probably to his son, John Cecil, 7th Earl of Exeter [d. 1722], Burghley House; by inheritance, probably to his brother, Brownlow Cecil, 8th earl of Exeter [d. 1754], Burghley House; by inheritance, probably to his son, Brownlow Cecil, 9th earl of Exeter [1725-1793], Burghley House; by inheritance, probably to his nephew, Henry Cecil, 1st marquess [1801] of Exeter [1754-1804], Burghley House;[2] by inheritance to his son, Brownlow Cecil, 2nd marquess of Exeter [1795-1867], Burghley House; by inheritance to his son, William Alleyne Cecil, 3rd marquess of Exeter [1825-1895], Burghley House; (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 9 June 1888, no. 297, as by Cima da Conegliano); Robert Henry [1850-1929] and Evelyn Holford [1856-1943] Benson, London and Buckhurst Park, Sussex; purchased 1927 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); sold March 1937 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1939 to NGA.

[1] According to Tancred Borenius, Catalogue of Italian Pictures...Collected by Robert and Evelyn Benson, London, 1914: 151, no. 76.

[2] In a letter of 12 November 1984 to Suzannah Fabing, Carol Dowd of the Getty Provenance Index provides references, the earliest from 1797, to a painting described as a "half-length of the Virgin Reading by Garofalo" that is probably the same as NGA 1939.1.354: A History or Description...of Burghley House, the Seat of the Right Honorable the Earl of Exeter, 1797: 71-72; Thomas Blore, A Guide to Burghley House, Northamptonshire, the seat of the Marquis of Exeter containing a catalogue of all the paintings, antiquities, etc. with biographical notices of the artists, 1815: 94; John P. Neale, Views of The Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, 6 vols., London, 1820: 3:unpaginated, entry for Burghley House, Northamptonshire. All the references place the painting in Burghley House.

[3] The Duveen Brothers letter confirming the sale of twenty-four paintings, including NGA 1939.1.354, is dated 9 March 1937; the provenance is given as "Benson Collection" (copy in NGA curatorial files; Box 474, Folder 5, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles). See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2354.

Associated Names

Benson, Robert Henry and Evelyn Holford
Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Exeter, Brownlow Cecil, 2nd marquess of
Exeter, Brownlow Cecil, 8th Earl of
Exeter, Brownlow Cecil, 9th Earl of
Exeter, Henry Cecil, 1st marquess of
Exeter, John Cecil, 5th Earl of
Exeter, John Cecil, 6th Earl of
Exeter, John Cecil, 7th Earl of
Exeter, William Alleyne Cecil, 3rd marquess of
Kress Foundation, Samuel H.

Exhibition History

1894: Exhibition of Venetian Art, New Gallery, London, 1894-1895, no. 49.

1910: Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1910, no. 14, as A Female Saint Reading.

1912: A Collection of Pictures of the Early Venetian School and Other Works of Art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1912, no. 12 (no. 17 and pl. XV in illustrated catalogue titled Early Venetian Pictures and Other Works of Art).

1927: Loan Exhibition of the Benson Collection of Old Italian Masters, City of Manchester Art Gallery, 1927, no. 39, as A Lady Reading.

1939: Masterpieces of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture from 1300-1800, New York World's Fair, 1939, no. 36, as Lady Reading.

2022: Vittore Carpaccio: Master Storyteller of Renaissance Venice, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Fondazione Musei Civici, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 2022-2023, no. 50, repro.

Bibliography

1895: Berenson, Bernard. Venetian Painting, Chiefly before Titian, at the Exhibition of Venetian Art. London, 1895: 23-24.

1895: Gronau, Georg. "Correspondence d'Angleterre." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 13 (1895): 259.

1901: Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell’arte italiana. 11 vols. Milan, 1901-1940: 7, part 4 (1915):730-732, fig. 465.

1905: Reinach, Salomon. Répertoire de peintures du moyen âge et de la Renaissance (1280-1580). 6 vols. Paris, 1905-1923: 1(1905):611.

1907: Cust, Lionel. "La collection de M. R. H. Benson (Londres)." Les Arts 70 (1907): 13, 14, repro.

1907: Molmenti, Pompeo and Gustav Ludwig. The Life and Works of Vittore Carpaccio. London, 1907: 169, 170, repro.

1910: Beckerath, Adolf von. “Die Winter-Ausstellungen alter Bilder in London.” Rerpertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 33 (1910): 282.

1912: Borenius, Tancred. “La mostra di dipinti veneziani primitivi al Burlington Fine Arts Club.” Rassegna d’Arte 12, no. 6 (June 1912): 89, 90, repro.

1912: Fry, Roger. "Exhibition of Pictures of the Early Venetian School at the Burlington Fine Arts Club." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 21 (1912): 96.

1914: Borenius, Tancred. Catalogue of Italian Pictures at 16 South Street, Park Lane, London and Buckhurst in Sussex Collected by Robert and Evelyn Benson. London, 1914: 151-152, no. 76, repro.

1923: Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 18(1936):280-282, fig. 169.

1927: Freund, Frank E. Washburn. “Die Sammlung Benson.” Der Cicerone 19, no. 16 (1927): 502.

1931: Fiocco, Giuseppe. Carpaccio. Paris, 1931: 34-35, 74, pl. 119.

1933: Venturi, Lionello. Italian Paintings in America. 3 vols. New York and Milan, 1933: 2:pl.410.

1941: Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 93, repro., as A Saint Reading.

1941: Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 35-36, no. 447, pl. III, as A Lady Reading.

1941: Richter, George Martin. "The New National Gallery in Washington." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 78 (June 1941): 178.

1942: Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 248, repro. 82, as A Saint Reading.

1944: Frankfurter, Alfred M. The Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1944: 48, repro.

1945: Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 89, repro., as A Saint Reading.

1952: Berenson, Bernard. Italian Painters of the Renaissance. 3rd edition. Oxford, 1952: fig. 11.

1952: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 50, color repro., as A Saint Reading.

1955: Pignatti, Terisio. Carpaccio. Milan, 1955: 110-111, pl. 3, fig. 88.

1957: Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Venetian School. 2 vols. London, 1957: 1:59.

1959: Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 151, repro., as A Saint Reading.

1959: Seilern, Antoine Graf von. Italian Paintings and Drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London. 2 vols. London, 1959: 27-29.

1960: Perocco, Guido. Tutta la pittura del Carpaccio. Milan, 1960: 68, pl. 141.

1962: Lauts, Jan. Carpaccio. Paintings and Drawings. Complete Edition. Greenwich, CT, 1962: 253, pl. 143.

1963: Pignatti, Terisio. Vittore Carpaccio. Milan, 1963: 49.

1963: Zampetti, Pietro, ed. Vittore Carpaccio. Catalogo della mostra. Exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1963: 204, fig. 12

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 23.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:166, color repro.

1966: Muraro, Michelangelo. Carpaccio. Florence, 1966: CLIV, CLV, repro.

1966: Zampetti, Pietro. Vittore Carpaccio. Florence, 1966: 77, fig. 43.

1967: Perocco, Guido. L'opera completa del Carpaccio. Milan, 1967: 102.

1968: Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 38-39, color repro.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 16, repro.

1968: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 52, fig. 129.

1972: Pignatti, Terisio. Vittore Carpaccio. Milan, 1972: 19.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 56, repro.

1977: Muraro, Michelangelo. I disegni di Vittore Carpaccio. 2 vols. Florence, 1977: 22, 65, fig. 20a.

1979: Sgarbi, Vittorio. Carpaccio. Bologna, 1979: 38.

1979: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:116-117; 2:pl. 79.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 203, no. 242, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 75, repro.

1989: Valcanover, Francesco. Carpaccio. Florence, 1989: 50-51, pl. 60.

1991: Bradford, William, and Helen Braham. Master Drawings from the Courtauld Collection. Exh. cat. Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1991: 48.

1991: Humfrey, Peter. Carpaccio: catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1991: 101, repro.

1994: Sgarbi, Vittorio. Carpaccio. Milan, 1994: 48-49, 217.

1995: Bettagno, Alessandro, and Giorgio Fossaluzza. “Interpretazioni del paesaggio nella pittura veneta.” In Alessandro Bettagno, ed. Natura e arte nel paesaggio veneto. Dalle interpretazioni pittoriche alle immagine fotografiche. Turin, 1995: 153, fig. 37.

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: 188-193, color repro.

2013: Walmsley, Elizabeth. "Italian Renaissance Paintings Restored in Paris by Duveen Brothers, Inc., c. 1927-1929." Facture: conservation, science, art history 1 (2013): 58-77, fig. 12.

2017: Serres, Karen. "Duveen's Italian framemaker, Ferruccio Vannoni." The Burlington Magazine 159, no. 1370 (May 2017): 373 n. 41.

2022: National Gallery of Art. "The Director's Circle of the National Gallery of Art." Art for the Nation no. 66 (Fall 2022): 48, repro.