Provenance

Luigi Bonomi

Italian

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Three women, two men, and a baby sit on or stand near a throne with a curved top in this vertical painting. All the people have light, peachy skin. A younger woman, Mary, holds a nude baby as she sits on the lap of a second woman, Saint Anne, on the throne. The edges of Saint Anne’s white habit are visible along her forehead and across her neck, and she wears a raspberry-pink robe covering her head, shoulders, and arms. She holds both hands out, with her right hand, to our left, palm down. She looks off to our left, and her lips are parted. On her lap, Mary’s blond hair is pulled back, and she wears a ruby-red dress under a lapis-blue robe. She looks down at the baby who sits on her right knee, to our left. The baby also has blond hair, and he reaches for the hand of a third woman kneeling next to him, to our left. That woman’s reddish-blond hair is pulled back, and she wears a golden yellow wrap over a spruce-green dress. A red cloth hangs down her back and pools over the back of her bent knees and legs. She looks down at her right hand as the baby holds the third finger. The two men stand to either side of the throne. Both have bald heads, each with a ring of hair, and they are cleanshaven. The one to our left stands just behind the kneeling woman, and wears a moss-green, hooded robe with loose sleeves. He holds one hand to his chest, and a faint wound is visible on the back of his palm. The man on the other side faces the throne in profile facing our left. He wears a black cape wrapped around a white robe. He holds a book in one hand and a long stem of white flowers in the other. The throne sits in front of a shadowed, rounded niche. It is lined with a garland dotted with fruit, possibly oranges and lemons. Behind Saint Anne’s head, a gold circle is held up by two winged angels. Along the base of the throne, an oval medallion sits against a design of scrolls and flowers. The medallion shows a person kneeling on a box and another with a sword raised. The throne sits on two steps. On the steps near the kneeling woman are a gold crown, a sword with a gold hilt, and a bit of a broken, wooden wheel.
Correggio, The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine, 1510/1515, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.83

The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine

Correggio · 1510/1515 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.83

A young woman and an older man kneel to either side of a nude baby outside of a barn-like structure in this vertical painting. The people and three winged angels overhead all have pale skin except the older man, who has a more tan complexion. To our right, the woman kneels with her hands crossed over her chest, facing our left in profile. She looks down with dark eyes, and has a long, straight nose, flushed cheeks, and pink lips. Her wavy, chestnut-brown hair is mostly covered by a voluminous white veil that drapes across her shoulders. She wears an azure-blue cloak over a rose-pink, long-sleeved dress, which puddles under her knees. To our left, the man kneels with his hands held up near his face in prayer. He has dark eyes and a short, stubby nose. He is balding with a fringe of curly gray hair, and he has a full, graying beard. He wears a coral-red robe wrapped in a mustard-yellow cloak. The edges of white cuffs are visible at his wrists. One sandaled foot peeks out from under his robe as he kneels on the other knee. A walking stick lies across one arm, braced in his lap. Glimmering gold rings create halos around the man and woman's heads. Between them and on a white cloth in a woven basket, the baby has a pudgy face and body as he lifts his hands toward the woman. One foot is also raised, chubby knee bent. The infant has dark eyes and blond curly hair. Clusters of three lines emanate from the top of his head and to the sides over each ear. A wooden container and a white sack sit on the dirt ground, next to the basket. Beyond the group is a wooden structure with a thatched, overhanging roof. Two white birds sit along a branch tucked in the supports holding up the roof, and a ladder leans against the side of the barn. A crucifux hangs from a deeply shadowed wall behind the man, along the left edge of the painting. Three, winged, childlike angels gather around a piece of sheet music at the top center of the painting. They all have dark blond hair but different colored wings, in coral pink, forest green, or golden yellow. Below, trees and grassy hills lead back to hazy blue mountains along the horizon in the deep distance. A person and white sheep dot the hillside near the structure. The sky above deepens from ice blue at the horizon to aquamarine blue across the top edge. The artist signed and dated the painting as if he had inscribed a plank of wood near the lower right corner: “L. Lotus 1523.”
Lorenzo Lotto, The Nativity, 1523, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.288

The Nativity

Lorenzo Lotto · 1523 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.288