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Provenance

Probably Bernardo Bembo, Venice or Verona [d. 1519]. Probably his son, Cardinal Pietro Bembo [1470-1547], Padua and Rome.[1] Nicolai Nikitich Demidov, Prince of San Donato [1773-1828], near Florence;[2] his son, Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, Prince of San Donato [1812-1870], near Florence; (his sale, Paris, 3 March 1870, no. 204, repro., etching by Rajou). Private collection, Italy, until c. 1928.[3] (Matthiesen Gallery, Berlin). (Paul Cassirer, Berlin).[4] Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza [1875-1947], Schloss Rohoncz, Hungary, and later, Villa Favorita, Lugano-Castagnola, Switzerland, by 1930;[5] on consignment 1950 with (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); purchased 1951 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York; [6] gift 1952 by exchange to NGA.

Exhibition History

1930
Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1930, no. 222.
1931
Alte Pinakotek, Munich, 1931, no cat.
1983
Raphael and America, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1983, no. 78, repro.
1994
Hans Memling's "Saint John the Baptist" and "Saint Veronica", National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1994, brochure, figs. 2, 3, color repros.
1994
The Art of Devotion 1300-1500, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1994-1995, no. 14, repro. 45.
1995
Hans Memling: Johannes und Veronka, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1995, no. 2, repro.
2000
Il Volto di Cristo, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, 2000-2001, no. IV.37, repro.
2002
Deceptions and Illusions: Five Centuries of Trompe L'Oeil Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2002-2003, no. 58, color repro.
2006
Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, 2006-2007, no. 25, repro.
2013
Face to Face: Flanders, Florence, and Renaissance Painting, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, 2013-2014, pl. 28.
2013
Pietro Bembo e l'invenzione dal Rinascimento, Palazzo del Monte di Pieta, Padua, 2013,

Technical Summary

The panel is composed of a single piece of wood which has been unevenly trimmed at the top edge. It is approximately .5 cm thick at the bottom edge. The painting on the front of the panel is in excellent condition, with only a few scattered small losses. There are some small areas of abrasion in the sky. The back is in less good condition, having received a number of nicks and scratches as well as more abrasion. However, the chalice and snake are well preserved with only a few small losses. The front of the panel was cleaned and restored in 1982 and the reverse cleaned and restored in 1983.

The figure of Saint Veronica is fully underdrawn in what appears to be black chalk, but infrared reflectography revealed minimal underdrawing in the landscape. The underdrawing on the reverse is free and cursory, providing a more general guide for the painted design, including the shadow cast by the chalice.

Bibliography

1872
Crowe, J. A., and G.B. Cavalcaselle. The Early Flemish Painters: Notices of their Lives and Works. 2nd ed. London, 1872: 299.
1887
Cian, Vittorio. "Pietro Bembo e Isabella d'Este Gonzaga." Giornale storico della letteratura italiana 9 (1887) 85-86.
1887
Pearson, Karl. Fronica: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Christubsbildes im Mittelalter. Strasbourg, 1887: 91, 108.
1907
Weale, William Henry James. Hans Memlinc. London, 1907: 18.
1911
Mireur, Hippolyte. Dictionnaire des ventes d’art faites en France et et à l’étranger pendant les XVIIIme & XIXme siècles. 7 vols. Paris, 1911: 5:157, 158.
1916
Friedländer, Max J. Von Eyck bis Bruegel. Berlin, 1916: 178.
1924
Friedländer, Max J. Die altniederländische Malerei. 14 vols. Berlin and Leiden, 1924-1937. Berlin, 1934: 6:125, no. 46. (English ed. 14 vols. Leiden, 1967-1976. Leiden, 1971: 6 pt. 2:52, 130, no. 46, pl. 95.)
1930
Kunstauktion 4, no. 28 (13 July 1930): 2, repro.
1930
"La vie artistique à l'étranger." Le Bulletin de l'art ancien et moderne 58 (1930): 416, repro. 415.
1930
Mayer, August L. "Die Ausstellung der Sammlung 'Schloss Rohoncz' in der Neuen Pinakothek, München." Pantheon 6 (July 1930): 308, repro. [305].
1930
Valentiner, Wilhelm R., ed. Unknown Masterpieces in Public and Private Collections. London, 1930: n.p., pl. 27 [erroneously cited as no. 37 in the published NGA systematic catalogue entry].
1937
Heinemann, Rudolf. Stiftung Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz. 3 vols. Lugano-Castagnola, 1937: 1:104-105, no. 281, 2:pl. 68.
1939
Bazin, Germain. Memling. Paris, 1939: plates 10, 11.
1942
Baldass, Ludwig von. Hans Memling. Vienna, 1942: 20, 42, no. 57, fig. 57.
1949
Alexander, H. G. "The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection at Lugano." The Connoisseur 123 (1949): 30, fig. 6.
1950
Krönig, Wolfgang. "Geertgens Bild Johannes des Täufers." Das Münster 3 (1950): 198.
1951
Frankfurter, Alfred M. "Interpreting Masterpieces." Art News Annual xxi 50 no. 7 (November 1951): pt. 2:102, 105, 111, repros.
1952
Frankfurter, Alfred M. "Interpreting Masterpieces: Twenty-four Paintings from the Kress Collection." ArtNews Annual Christmas Edition, vol. 50 no. 7 (November 1951): 102, 111, 105 col. repro.
1952
Sterling, Charles. La Nature morte de l'antiquité à nos jours. Paris, 1952: 27, 127.
1953
Panofsky Erwin. Early Netherlandish Painting: Its Origins and Character. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1953: 2:498, n.3.
1954
Ferguson, George. Signs and Symbols in Christian Art. New York, 1954: pl. 11.
1955
Shapley, Fern Rusk. "The National Gallery of Art at Washington: Acquisitions 1945-1955." The Studio 150, no. 748 (July 1955): 2, 6, repro.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 132.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 285, repro.
1960
Broadley Hugh T. Flemish Painting in the National Gallery of Art (Booklet no. 5 in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC). Washington, 1960: 22.
1960
Folie, Jacqueline. Flanders in the Fifteenth Century: Art and Civilization. Exh. cat. Detroit Institute of Arts, 1960: 144. (The NGA painting was not in the exhibition.)
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: 62-63, 213, color fig. 56.
1962
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 56.
1962
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 56, color repro.
1962
Neugass, Fritz. "Die Auflösung der Sammlung Kress." Die Weltkunst 32 (1962): 4.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 304, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 89.
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:84-85, color repro.
1967
Kermer, Wolfgang. "Studien zum Diptych in der sakralen Malerei von den Anfängen bis zur Mitte des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, Eberhardt-Karls-Universität, Tübingen, 1967: 1:184-187, 292-294; 2:139-141, no. 139, figs.178, 179.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 78, repro.
1969
Corti, Maria, and Giorgio T. Faggin. L'opera completa di Memling. Milan, 1969: 104, no. 59b. pl. 51.
1971
McFarlane, Kenneth Bruce. Hans Memling, ed. Edgar Wind. Oxford, 1971: 45, fig. 132.
1972
Brown, Clifford M. "An Art Auction in Venice in 1506." L'arte 5, no. 18-19/20 (June-December 1972): 124.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 232, repro. 233.
1977
Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 55-57, figs. 50, 51 (as St. Veronica Holding the Sudarium and The Chalice of St. John the Evangelist in a Niche).
1978
Chastel, André. "La Véronique." Revue de l'Art no. 40-41 (1978): 75.
1979
Rosenbaum, Allen. Old Master Paintings from the Collection of Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza. Exh. cat. International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, 1979: 116.
1981
Brown, Clifford M. "Un tableau perdu de Lorenzo Costa et la collection de Florimond Robertet." Revue de l'Art no. 52 (1981): 27-28, fig. 4.
1981
Campbell, Lorne. "Notes on Netherlandish Pictures in the Veneto in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries." The Burlington Magazine 123, no. 941 (August 1981): 471, fig. 15.
1981
Fletcher, Jennifer. "Marcantonio Michiel, 'che ha veduto assai'." The Burlington Magazine 123 no. 943 (October 1981): 604-606.
1981
Hull, Vida Joyce. Memlinc's Paintings from the Hospital of Saint John in Bruges. New York and London, 1981: 123-128, 140-141, figs. 44, 45.
1983
Brown, David Allen. Raphael and America. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1983: 153-157, 196-197, pl. 13.
1983
Eikemeier, Peter. "Memling." In Alte Pinakothek München: Erläuterung zu den ausgestellten Gemälden. Munich, 1983: 345, under no. 652.
1983
Shearman, John. "A Drawing for Raphael's 'St. George'." The Burlington Magazine 125 no. 958 (January 1983): 25.
1983
Shearman, John. The Early Italian Pictures in the Collection of her Majesty the Queen. Cambridge, 1983: 210.
1983
Sonnenburg, Hubertus von. Raphael in der Alten Pinakothek: Geschichte und Wiederherstellung des ersten Raphael-Gemäldes in Deutschland und der von König Ludwig I. erworbenen Madonnenbilder. Exh. cat. Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich, 1983: 107-108, 125.
1984
Gould, Cecil. Review of The Early Italian Pictures in the Collection of her Majesty the Queen by John Shearman. Apollo 119 (1984): 225.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 130, no. 118, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 267, repro.
1986
Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 193-201, color repro. 194, repro. 195.
1990
Belting, Hans. Bild und Kult: Eine Geschichte des Bildes vor dem Zeitalter der Kunst. 6th ed. Munich, 2004: 478-480, fig. 260; color repro. on cover. (English edition, Likeness and Presence: A History of the Image Before the Era of Art, translated by Edmund Jephcott. Chicago, 1994: 428-430, fig. 260.)
1991
Kuryluk, Ewa. Veronica and Her Cloth: History, Symbolism, and Structure of a "True" Image. Oxford, 1991: 139-140
1993
Mouchoirs. Exh. cat. Musée du Textile Choletais, 1993: 12, repro.
1993
Schläppi, Christoph, and Bernard Schlup. Machs na. 2 vols. Bern, 1993: 1 ("Ein Führer zum Berner Münster"): 20, fig 20.
1994
Belting, Hans and Christiane Kruse. Erfindung des Gemäldes: Das erste Jahrhundert der niederländischen Malerei. Munich, 1994: 61, 187, 254-255, 266, color figs 219, 225.
1994
Klein, Peter. "Dendrochronological Analysis of Panels of Hans Memling." In Hans Memling: Essays. Edited by Dirk De Vos. Bruges, 1994: 103.
1994
Lobelle-Caluwé, Hilde. "Het Ursulaschrijn van Hans Memling: ontwerp, contructie en oorspronkelijk uitzicht." In Vos, Dirk de, ed. Hans Memling: Essays. Exh. cat. Groeningemuseum, Bruges, 1994: 91, fig. 3.
1994
Vos, Dirk de. Hans Memling: Catalogue, translated by Ted Akins and Marcus Cumberledge. Exh. cat. (Hans Memling: Five Centuries of Fact and Fiction), Groeningenmuseum, Bruges, 1994: 81-83, color repro. (The NGA painting was not in the exhibition.)
1994
Vos, Dirk de. Hans Memling: The Complete Works. Translated by Ted Alkins. Antwerp and Ghent, 1994: 204-207, color figs.
1995
György, Gábor. A bizonyság két táblája beszélgeté sek a tízparancsolatról. Budapest, 1995: 76, 82, fig. 20.
1995
Humphrey, Peter. Painting in Venice. New Haven, 1995: 11-12, 80, fig. 13.
1996
Kruse, Christiane. "Eine gemalte Kunsttheorie im Johannes-Veronika-Diptychon von Hans Memling." Pantheon 54 (1996): 37-49, fig. 1d.
1998
Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane. "Beheading/Decapitation (Acheiropaiec Heads)." In Helene E. Roberts, ed. Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art, 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 1:123.
1998
Christiansen, Keith. "The View from Italy." In From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998. New York, 1998: 44, 60 note 28. (NGA painting was not in the exhibition.)
2000
Blasio, Tiziana Maria Di. Veronica--il mistero del volto: Itinerari iconografici, memoria e rappresentazione. Rome, 2000: 156-157, color repro.
2002
Belozerskaya, Marina. Rethinking the Renaissance: Burgundian Arts Across Europe. Cambridge, 2002: 266-267, 269, fig. 86.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 50-51, no. 36, color repro.
2004
Neverov, Oleg Yakovlevich. Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia. New York and Saint Petersburg, 2004: 126-128, ill. 161.
2004
Nuttall, Paula. From Flanders to Florence: The Impact of Netherlandish Painting, 1400-1500. New Haven and London, 2004: 248, fig. 281.
2005
Borchert, Till-Holger. "Memling, vida y obra." In Retratos de Memling. Exh. cat. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, 2005: 32-33, color repro.
2006
Schawe, Martin. Alte Pinakothek: Altdeutsche und altniederländische Malerei. Munich, 2006: 327.
2006
Verougstraete, Hélène. “Diptychs with Instructions for Use.” In Essays in Context: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych, edited by John Oliver Hand and Ron Spronk. Cambridge and New Haven, 2006: 161-162, fig. 2.
2007
"El retablo, en la National Gallery of Art de Washington." Lapiz 26, no. 229 (January 2007): 18.
2007
Lane, Barbara G. Hans Memling: Master Painter in Fifteenth-Century Bruges. London, 2009: 250, 290-291, 319, col. fig. 25.
2007
Michiels, Alfred. Hans Memling. New York, 2007: 46, [47], color fig.
2013
Brooke, Irene. "Pietro Bembo, Padua." Burlington 155, no. 1,322 (May 2013): 355-356, color fig. 57.
2014
Lane, Barbara G. “Hans Memling: vita e opere.” In Memling: Rinasimento fiammingo, ed. Till-Holger Borchert. Exh. cat. Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome, 2014-2015. Milan, 2014: 39, 40, color fig. 1. (The NGA painting was not in the exhibition.)
2017
Alexandrova, Alena. Breaking Resemblance: The Role of Religious Motifs in Contemporary Art. New York, 2017: 20-21, fig. 2.
2024
Manges Nogueira, Alison. “Concealing portraits in Renaissance Venice: Jacometto’s painted box.” The Burlington Magazine 166 (February 2024): 131.
2024
Mangues Noguera, Alison. Hidden Faces: Covered Portraits of the Renaissance. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2024: 36, 41.

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