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Master of Saint Veronica (artist) German, active c. 1395/1420 The Crucifixion, c. 1400/1410 tempera on panel Overall (design area): 40.7 x 25.2 cm (16 x 9 15/16 in.) support: 46.2 x 31.1 cm (18 3/16 x 12 1/4 in.) framed: 58.1 x 43.8 x 4.4 cm (22 7/8 x 17 1/4 x 1 3/4 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1961.9.29 |
Object 2 of 8
Provenance
Possibly the Carthusian monastery of Saint Barbara, Cologne.[1] Richard von Schnitzler, Cologne, by 1917.[2] (M. Knoedler & Co., New York, owned with Pinakos, Inc. [Rudolf Heinemann], by 1953);[3] purchased 1954 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York; gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] Although unverified it is possible, as Eisler first suggested, that The Crucifixion was originally located in the Charterhouse of Saint Barbara in Cologne, the city where the Master of Saint Veronica was active as well as the birthplace of Saint Bruno, founder of the Carthusian Order. The Charterhouse in Cologne was a large and important institution that underwent a major building campaign between 1391 and 1405. (see J.J. Merlo, "Kunst und Kunsthandwerk im Karthäuserkloster zu Köln", Annalen des historischen Vereins für den Niederrhein insbesondere die alte Erzdiöcese Köln, 45 (1886): 1-2. See also Paul Clemen, Ludwig Arntz, Hugo Rahtgens, Heinrich Neu, and Hans Vogts, Die Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt Köln, vol. 2, part 3 (Düsseldorf, 1934), 137-162, and Otto Braunsberger, "Die Kölner Kartause. Erinnerungen aus alter Zeit," Stimmen der Zeit. Katholische Monatschrift für das Geistesleben der Gegenwart, 94 (1918): 134-152. If the Gallery's panel were in the Charterhouse, it might have remained there until 1794 when the monastery was dispersed.) Given the Order's emphasis on solitary contemplation and devotion, it would seem likely that the Gallery's panel adorned the cell of a single monk. It is possible that it was originally part of a commission for multiple images, as was the case with the Crucifixions painted by Jean de Beaumetz and his shop for the Charterhouse at Champmol. (Noted by Colin Eisler, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. (Oxford, 1977), 1.
[2] Walter Bombe, "Die Sammlung Dr. Richard von Schnitzler in Cöln." Der Cicerone 9 (1917) 366.
[3] M. Knoedler & Co. account book, where a pencilled notation suggests that the panel was previously owned by a Dr. Howard in partnership with Mont and Newhouse.
Associated Names
- Carthusian Monastery of Saint Barbara, Cologne
- Heinemann, Rudolf J.
- Knoedler & Company, M.
- Kress Foundation, Samuel H.
- Schnitzler, Richard von
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