Provenance

Stefano Bardini

Italian, 1836 - 1922

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This sculpture is a cross on a highly detailed base. Most of the cross is transparent, similar to clear glass or crystal, while its ends are decorated with gold and colorful jewels in the shape of small crowns. The cross is connected to the base with more gold, which is then connected to a clear stem. The base is also transparent and appears to feature etched figures on horseback under tall trees. The bottom of the base has a ring of gold encrusted with jewels in shades of pink and green.
Saracchi Workshop, Western European 19th Century, Altar Cross, c. 1590 (foot); mid to late 19th century (cross and its mounts), rock crystal, enameled gold, 3 beryls, 46 spinels, and 11 emeralds, Widener Collection, 1942.9.294

Altar Cross

Saracchi Workshop, Western European 19th Century · c. 1590 (foot); mid to late 19th century (cross and its mounts) · rock crystal, enameled gold, 3 beryls, 46 spinels, and 11 emeralds ·  Accession ID  1942.9.294

To our right, a man with a long, pointed beard, wearing a fawn-brown, hooded robe, walks toward a second bearded man, to our left, wearing a cobalt-blue robe and sitting on a stone slab in front of a deep landscape, in this vertical painting. Both men have pale skin and brown hair. The man to our right faces our left in profile, and has two sharp, bone-white horns curving back from the top of his head and a claw-like, webbed foot protruding from under the hem of his monk’s robe. He has a prominent, hooked nose, sunken eyes, and he seems to look ahead, into the distance. He clutches a strand of large beads hanging from his waist with his right hand, farther from us, and holds a round, loaf-sized stone in his other hand. The body of the seated man, to our left, faces us but he turns to look off to our right with dark eyes. His left hand, to our right, rests in his lap and his other hand is raised, palm facing the walking man. Rocks and boulders lie on the ground between and around the men. Behind them, a grassy meadow dotted with tiny white flowers slopes down to a line of trees with olive-green leaves, tucked beyond the hill. One tall, spindly tree grows behind the horned man and a bird perches, wings spread, on the top. A steep, rocky cliff rises behind the seated man, to our left. Two strokes of light blue and pale beige suggest two people standing atop the cliff. Beyond, a city with tan-colored stone buildings and blue mountains are hazy in the distance. Atop a tower in the city, the pair of men appear again, with the man in brown gesturing down and the man in blue looking on. Three more birds fly across the sky, which deepens from a misty white near the mountaintops in the background to azure blue along the top edge of the panel. The surface of the painting has visible long, mostly vertical cracks throughout.
Juan de Flandes, The Temptation of Christ, c. 1500/1504, oil on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1967.7.1

The Temptation of Christ

Juan de Flandes · c. 1500/1504 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1967.7.1

This painting depicts two people, an adult man and a young boy. The man is seen from the knees up, standing with one arm on a table and the other on his hip. He has light skin, light green eyes, a brown beard and mustache, and dark hair under a black cap. He is wearing a bright red jacket with several buttons down the front, which is open to reveal a white garment with several pleats and folds. The boy, who has short brown hair and fair skin, leans against the man's leg, tying a bow on the white garment and looking over his shoulder at us. He wears a yellow outfit with subtle white stripes. On the left is a table covered with dark green fabric which the man has his hand on; there are three books on it, and a letter on white paper propped up against the books. The background is a muted green-brown color.
North Italian 16th Century, Gian Paolo Pace, Alessandro Alberti with a Page, possibly 1544/1545, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.80

Alessandro Alberti with a Page

North Italian 16th Century, Gian Paolo Pace · possibly 1544/1545 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1952.5.80

Michele Giambono, Saint Peter, c. 1445/1450, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.80

Saint Peter

Michele Giambono · c. 1445/1450 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.80

Shown from the thighs up, a woman and two children are carved in high and low relief on this white marble, vertically oriented rectangular panel. The woman’s body faces us, but she cranes her neck sharply to look up and to our left. She has rounded features and wears a veil that drapes over her head and long robe. She holds up a scroll carved with the word “CHARITAS” in her right hand, to our left, and wraps her other hand around the shoulders of two small children in the lower right. The children face her and tip their heads back, and they appear to drink streams of liquid coming from a flame-shape on her chest. The trio are enclosed in a quatrefoil shape, which has lobes at each corner separated by points along each edge. Stepped molding frames the quatrefoil.
Giovanni di Balduccio, Charity, c. 1330, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1960.5.4

Charity

Giovanni di Balduccio · c. 1330 · marble ·  Accession ID  1960.5.4

Shown from the chest up on the far side of a ledge, a pale-skinned, clean-shaven young man faces our right in profile in this vertical portrait painting. He looks steadily forward. The eye we can see is brown under a thin, curving brow. His nose is bumped near the bridge, and he has a slight underbite. His pale pink lips are closed, and he has a delicate jawline. Short brown hair brushes the side of his face under a coral-red turban, the ends of which fall down his back. A high-collared dark brown garment is edged with white around the neck, and a cranberry-red robe or jacket falls open over his chest. He is shown against a dark, teal-blue background. The ledge along the bottom of the painting is black with edged with gold. Gold lettering reads, “MATHEVS OLIVIERI D NI IOANNI FILI.”
Florentine 15th Century, Matteo Olivieri (?), 1430s, tempera (and oil?) on panel transferred to canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.15

Matteo Olivieri (?)

Florentine 15th Century · 1430s · tempera (and oil?) on panel transferred to canvas ·  Accession ID  1937.1.15

A freestanding, winged angel with a halo is carved from white marble streaked with gray. In this view, the angel’s body faces us, and the head turns slightly to our left. Curls frame a round face with delicate features in front of a flat, plate-like halo. The angel’s long robe is pinned at the chest, tied around the waist, and falls in thick folds into puddles around the feet. The angel holds one hand up with the first two fingers raised and holds a scroll down by the hip with the other hand. One pointed shoe peeks from under the robe, which almost covers the round base on which the angel stands. The sculpture is photographed against a pale gray background.
Venetian 14th Century, Angel of the Annunciation, c. 1340, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1960.5.10

Angel of the Annunciation

Venetian 14th Century · c. 1340 · marble ·  Accession ID  1960.5.10

Bonino da Campione, Prudence, c. 1357, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1960.5.6

Prudence

Bonino da Campione · c. 1357 · marble ·  Accession ID  1960.5.6

Giovanni Battista Foggini, Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, c. 1690, marble, Widener Collection, 1942.9.129

Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

Giovanni Battista Foggini · c. 1690 · marble ·  Accession ID  1942.9.129

Italian 16th Century, Dantesca Chair with Inlay Work, 16th century, elm, with leather seat, velvet upholstery, and bone, horn, and boxwood inlay, Widener Collection, 1942.9.398

Dantesca Chair with Inlay Work

Italian 16th Century · 16th century · elm, with leather seat, velvet upholstery, and bone, horn, and boxwood inlay ·  Accession ID  1942.9.398

Bibliography

1923

  • Bode, Wilhelm von, "Stefano Bardini," L'Antiquario X (1923):1-2

1970

  • Towner, Wesley. The Elegant Auctioneers. New York, 1970: 320-321.

1996

  • Turner, Jane, ed. The Dictionary of Art. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 3:228.

2000

  • Fahy, Everett. Dipinti, disegni, miniature, stampe: L'Archivio storico fotografico di Stefano Bardini. Florence, 2000.