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French & Company LLC

active 1940s

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A wooden, T-shaped cross, with a man nailed to its crossbeam, is raised so it stands vertically as men and women look on against a grassy, hilly landscape in this horizonal painting. The painting is made up of three parts: a vertical rectangular panel at the center and a tall, narrow rectangular panel to each side. The people all have pale, ruddy, or tanned skin. The cross is being pushed up from behind by two men with poles and pulled up on the front side by three men pulling on two ropes. The man on the cross, Jesus, is nude except for a white cloth across his hips. Blood trickles from nails holding his hands in place, the single nail driven through both feet, and a ring of thorns across his forehead. His long brown hair hangs down over his shoulder, and he has a full, trimmed beard. His red-rimmed eyes slope downward as he looks down to the crowd below. His mouth is closed. The people in the crowd at the base of the cross wear dresses, robes, and turbans in shades of ruby red, grass green, lapis blue, pale yellow, carnation pink, and bright white. Three men push and pull on the base of the cross, driving it into a hole dug in the dirt ground. Eleven men and one child look on from our left, some with gaping mouths. One of the two men pulling on one of the ropes to our right wears tattered blue clothing, and his toes poke out of the shoe we can see. The other man there is barefoot and has a prominent hooked, red nose and a pointed beard. A red cowl covers his head over a tunic striped with lemon yellow and brown. An inscription on that man’s sleeve reads, “OHAIR.” Two men stand in the lower left corner of this panel. One looks at the cross and the other looks out at us, while pointing up to Jesus. Two human skulls and other bones litter the ground around the cross. Two more wooden crosses and some rope lie on the ground near us. Two dogs romp together nearby, next to a coat of arms showing a crowned man wearing a red robe and holding two pointed staffs. In the panel to our left, a woman wearing an azure-blue robe, Mary, interlaces her fingers and flips her hands palm-down, as she looks at the ground. Another woman in front of her kneels and holds her interlaced hands up by her face, elbows high. A woman and a cleanshaven man stand near Mary, and to our left, a woman wearing emerald green holds a cloth with Jesus’s face on it. Four more men and women look on, the women crying. In the panel to our right, a man in a red robe and a man wearing armor sit on horses. The armored man gestures up at Jesus. Two more men sit on horses behind this pair, and six stand among and in front of the group. Two men sit, one with his hands tied behind his back, near the lower right corner of this panel. The bound man is bald and looks down. The man behind him has a brown beard and hair, and looks up at Jesus. Across all three panels, the scene takes place on a smooth, dirt ground. Grassy hills rise beyond the cross to higher peaks in the left and right panels. Paths or roads wind into the distance to a town on the horizon, which comes about two-thirds of the way up the composition. Hazy in the distance, a city wall encloses steeples and buildings, and a bridge spans a body of water leading up to the city. Gray clouds begin to tumble across the sky from our right. The sky is nearly white along the horizon and deepens to watery blue along the top edges of the panels.
Master of the Starck Triptych, The Raising of the Cross [center, left, and right panels], c. 1480/1490, oil on panel, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1997.100.1.a

The Raising of the Cross [center, left, and right panels]

Master of the Starck Triptych · c. 1480/1490 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1997.100.1.a

Kashan 16th Century, Silk Medallion Rug, late 16th century, silk pile on silk warp and weft, Widener Collection, 1942.9.478

Silk Medallion Rug

Kashan 16th Century · late 16th century · silk pile on silk warp and weft ·  Accession ID  1942.9.478

Tyrolean 15th Century, Portrait of a Man, c. 1490/1500, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.71

Portrait of a Man

Tyrolean 15th Century · c. 1490/1500 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.71

Venetian 17th Century, Tiziano Aspetti, Andiron with Figure of Venus, c. 1600/1675, bronze, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.101

Andiron with Figure of Venus

Venetian 17th Century, Tiziano Aspetti · c. 1600/1675 · bronze ·  Accession ID  1961.9.101

This is a tapestry showing a crucifixion scene. At the top of the tapestry are three men hanging from large wooden crosses, one in the center and the other two near the upper right and left corners. The men on the sides have agonized expressions, and their bodies are contorted, limbs bent and curved. The central man is still, his arms stretched outward, hands and feet nailed to the wood. He has a bleeding cut on his side and wears a tanged thorny circlet on his reddish-brown hair. The men all have cloths of various shades of gray and blue tied around their waists. Below, numerous other men and women are gathered, wearing colorful dresses and robes in shades of blue, red, orange, green, and purple. Near the bottom left corner, a woman in a blue dress and a white head covering appears to have fainted, and two other women grab her arms. Another woman stands at the base of the central cross, looking down at the fainted woman. All four of these women have halos, as does a man on the left who looks upward, his folded hands raised. In the bottom right corner, another man kneels down next to several tools, reaching for a loop of rope. The background features a pale green landscape with hills, trees, and gray buildings under a sky swirling with blue and white clouds. A red sun and a pale moon appear in the sky on either side of the central crucified man. The central scene of the tapestry is contained in an intricately decorated red border which features designs of flowers, fruit, and curling vines.
Pieter Pannemaker I, The Crucifixion, c. 1520, tapestry: undyed wool warp; spun silver, silver-gilt, and dyed silk and wool weft, Widener Collection, 1942.9.448

The Crucifixion

Pieter Pannemaker I · c. 1520 · tapestry: undyed wool warp; spun silver, silver-gilt, and dyed silk and wool weft ·  Accession ID  1942.9.448

This painting displays a woman standing upright, turned towards the left. The woman holds a sword vertically, with one hand on the hilt, the long blade pointed downward. She has long blonde hair that falls past her shoulders under an intricate crown. She has fair skin, pale, arched eyebrows, round eyes, and small red lips, and her facial expression is neutral. She wears a red robe over a red dress with a black belt at the waist and a faint pattern of flowers and vines. By her feet appears to be a broken piece of curved wood with thin spokes pointing upward, similar to a broken piece of a wheel. The background is black, and the ground is gray.
Master of the Starck Triptych, Saint Catherine [right wing exterior], c. 1480/1490, oil on panel, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1997.100.1.b

Saint Catherine [right wing exterior]

Master of the Starck Triptych · c. 1480/1490 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1997.100.1.b

Master of the Starck Triptych, Saint Barbara [left wing exterior], c. 1480/1490, oil on panel, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1997.100.1.c

Saint Barbara [left wing exterior]

Master of the Starck Triptych · c. 1480/1490 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1997.100.1.c

Italian 16th Century, Large Walnut Table with Uberti Arms, c. 1500, walnut, pine, and maple inlay, Widener Collection, 1942.9.381

Large Walnut Table with Uberti Arms

Italian 16th Century · c. 1500 · walnut, pine, and maple inlay ·  Accession ID  1942.9.381

This colorful sculpture is a relief depicting a woman kneeling with her hands clasped in prayer, turned to the left, facing a small child lying on the ground. The woman wears draped robes and has a halo behind her head, while the child also has a halo but is nude. The ground the child lies on is green, with tall white flowers sprouting from green stems behind them. The sky behind the woman is blue, and two cherubic heads are on either side of her head, each with halos and wings. At the very top of this scene, two arms reach down from above holding a white crown with green and blue gems, appearing to be about to place it on the woman's head. This scene is framed with an elaborate border with green leaves, yellow fruits, brown pinecones, and clusters of dark purple grapes. At the bottom of the border are two more cherubic heads. Below that is a small section with a green wreath around what appears to be a round coat of arms featuring a lion and a large X. The people in the sculpture are all completely white, and there is a gold arched border around the sculpture.
Andrea della Robbia, The Adoration of the Child, after 1477, glazed terracotta, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.1.2

The Adoration of the Child

Andrea della Robbia · after 1477 · glazed terracotta ·  Accession ID  1961.1.2

Three men and two women sit or stand along the far side of a long table, with more people looking on or gathered in other rooms behind them in this tall, vertical painting. All the people have pale skin. The long table stretches nearly the width of the painting. Near the left edge of the painting, a woman wearing a teal-blue robe over a white head scarf holds her hands together in front of her chest in prayer, and she looks down and to our right toward the tabletop. Next to her, a bearded man wearing a loose, eggplant-purple robe, Jesus, holds his right hand, to our left, up in front of his chest with his first two fingers raised, and the other hand rests on the table. His long, wavy brown hair hangs by his face, and he looks down toward the table with hooded eyes, his head tilted slightly to our left. Gold lines radiate out from the woman and Jesus’s heads. At his left shoulder, to our right, a man wearing a sky-blue cap and an emerald-green robe holds an oval-shaped bowl filled with a red liquid toward Jesus with one hand, and the other rests on the table. He looks to our left with light brown eyes under arched brows, and he has deep wrinkles across his forehead, at the corners of his eyes, along his chin line, and around his mouth. To our right and at the end of the table, a young, cleanshaven man sits next to a woman. Both have wavy blond hair, and they look down at the table. The man wears a crimson-red cap and a white fur-lined red cloak with a gold, jeweled clasp lined with teardrop pearls. His right hand, to our left, is lifted toward the woman sitting next to him. The woman wears a pearl-and-jewel headband around a white cloth that drapes down the back of her head. Her pine-green dress is patterned with shimmering gold, stylized leaf designs and has full, loose, white sleeves. She wears three gold rings on the hand resting on the table and two jeweled, gold bands on the other, which rests on her belly. Two younger people, both with brown, shoulder-length hair, stand on our side of the table, facing away from us as they look toward the woman to our right. The one to our left wears a brick-red tunic, and he holds a shallow, round bowl. The one to our right wears teal blue and holds a gold goblet on the table. With his other hand, he points down at six tall jugs on the geometrically patterned floor, and a brown dog stands at his feet. The table is covered with a white cloth, which is decorated with bands of stylized leaves and borders on the side facing us. Along the bottom of the cloth, above long fringe, a Latin inscription reads, “AVE GRACIA PLENA DOMINVS TECV BENEDICTATV INMVILEDIDVS ET BENEDICTVS.” Two gold plates, a few pieces of round, flat bread, and two knives are spaced along the tabletop. Behind the group at the table, one person stands to our left, another at the center, and a trio of men stand to our right. The far wall of the room is peirced with two tall, narrow arches of wood or dark stone to our left. At the top of the column separating the arches, there is white statue of a man holding up two round-topped tablets. The archway to our right opens onto a room with a bed covered with a ruby-red cover and a white pillow. Under the other arch, to our left, one woman and three men sit or stand around a round table in front of a tall fireplace mantle. One of the men holds a large, pewter-silver pitcher up to his lips, and the other three look on. The round table is covered with a white cloth and set with a few dishes. A door on the far wall of that room opens onto a street view lined with buildings.
Master of the Catholic Kings, The Marriage at Cana, c. 1495/1497, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.42

The Marriage at Cana

Master of the Catholic Kings · c. 1495/1497 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.42