Masterpieces of European Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art
November 8, 2006, through January 28, 2007
The Paintings
 Fra Filippo Lippi (c. 1406–1469)
Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Michael
1458
Tempera on wood
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Fund
These panels depicting Saint Anthony Abbot (left) and Saint Michael (right) originally flanked a central scene of the Adoration of the Child, now lost. The ensemble was created as a diplomatic gift from Giovanni di Cosimo de’ Medici for Alfonso V of Aragon (Alfonso I, king of Naples). The holy figures represented here are Alfonso’s patron saints. Saint Michael is adorned in military regalia aptly describing his role as Heaven’s defender against evil. Saint Anthony Abbot is simply clad, an indication of his rejection of earthly possessions and pursuit of a contemplative life in the desert. In contrast to Michael’s youth and vigorous stance, Anthony leans heavily on his staff. His balding head and gray beard convey his age, appropriate for a saint said to have lived to 105.
 Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665)
The Holy Family on the Steps
1648
Oil on canvas
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Fund
Seated on a precipitous set of steps, the Virgin holds the Child, who reaches for an apple offered by John the Baptist. Joseph, ensconced by shadows, studies his compass —- an allusion to the carpenter’s trade and a traditional symbol of God the universal architect. Elizabeth, posed as a prophetess, leans toward the Virgin to share a secret. Her revelation, symbolized by Christ’s acceptance of the apple, foretells the Child’s fate. Situated at the apex of the pyramidal group is the Virgin. She is the scala coelestis, the pathway by which God, through Christ’s birth, was revealed to mankind; redeemed by Christ’s death, humans might ascend to God. Behind the figures a series of classical structures — inspired no doubt by Poussin’s prolonged stays in Rome — suggest a divine city.
 Annibale Carracci (c. 1560–1609)
Boy Drinking
1582–83
Oil on canvas
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Fund
A boy vigorously drains a goblet of wine while grasping a glass decanter containing a tawny liquid. The shiny surface of the vessel reflects the drinker’s fingertips and a distant window, located outside the picture’s frame. Depicted awkwardly from below, the boy’s image is severely foreshortened. Is our subject drinking in celebration or desperation? The setting is inscrutable, with clues to a narrative intentionally left out. The imbibing boy is primarily a pretext for rendering light, shadow, texture, and perspective. The Bolognese Annibale, his brother Agostino, and their cousin Ludovico formed the Accademia dei Desiderosi in 1582 (later called Accademia degli Incamminati), which rejected idealism in painting and championed naturalism. In the context of the fledgling Academy, Boy Drinking is commensurate with the Carracci philosophy.
 Joseph Mallord William Turner
(1775–1851)
The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834
1835
Oil on fabric
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Bequest of John l. Severance
On October 16, 1834, London’s Houses of Parliament were consumed by a voracious fire. Turner observed the event, along with thousands of other Londoners. This painting, created a year after the fire, was based on numerous preparatory sketches in pencil and oil. While not painted en plein air, the painting reveals Turner’s mastery in capturing atmospheric effects and the properties of light to convey a sense of immediacy. On the periphery of the luminous blaze, magnified by its reflection on the water’s surface, fire companies hasten toward the engulfed buildings. Political radicals saw this accidental demise of Parliament’s seat as fitting retribution for its staunch conservatism.
 Valentin de Boulogne (1591–1632)
Samson
c. 1630
Oil on canvas
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
His chin resting contemplatively against his right hand, Samson is portrayed during an introspective moment. A brilliant red drapery swathed around his muscular torso slashes across the canvas, injecting a sense of movement in this otherwise static image. At Samson’s right elbow lies the jawbone of an ass, with which he purportedly slaughtered a thousand Philistines, and the conqueror’s laurel wreath, commemorating the Israelites’ victory. The lion skin recalls Samson’s bare-handed destruction of the attacking beast. Inconspicuously inserted into the composition is a small bee serving as a garment clasp on Samson’s left shoulder. Ostensibly alluding to the fabled swarm of bees that gathered in the slaughtered lion’s carcass and produced honey, it is also the heraldic device of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, who commissioned the painting.
 Frans Hals (c. 1581–1666)
Tieleman Roosterman
1634
Oil on canvas
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Fund
As the inscription painted at upper right tells us, this portrait of Tieleman Roosterman was painted in 1634 when the subject was thirty-six. With characteristic hasty brushstrokes, Hals represents an array of textures, from the satiny black doublet with slashed sleeves to the rigid wide collar, delicate lace-edged cuffs, and glossy beaver cap. The man’s extravagant costume asserts his affluence, derived from his success as a linen and silk merchant. Roosterman — identified by the coatof- arms at upper right, now known to be a later addition — is portrayed flush-faced and proud. His lengthy locks imply his disdain for contemporary moralists who railed against men with long hair.
 Andrea del Sarto (1486–1530)
The Sacrifice of Isaac
c. 1528
Oil on poplar
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Delia E. Holden and l. W. Holden Funds
While the devout Abraham prepares to slay his beloved son
in submission to God’s order, an angel appears, halting the sacrifice, as described in Genesis 22:1–14. Abraham’s powerful figure twists away from his cowering son, a sword in his right hand. Below him the beautiful nude Isaac kneels on a sacrificial altar, his discarded cloak pooled by the altar’s base. Del Sarto never completed the painting and remnants of the underdrawing are still visible, as in the outline of the donkey to the right of the figural group. Pentimenti, evident in the altered position of the angel and the outline of Isaac’s body, reveal the artist’s struggle with the composition. Del Sarto produced three versions of the scene; the Cleveland panel, painted in Florence, is the first in the series.
 El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)
(1541–1614)
The Holy Family with Mary Magdalene
c. 1590–95
Oil on canvas
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Gift of the Friends of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Memory of J. H. Wade
In this intimate scene the Virgin holds a wriggling Child, who reaches for a piece of fruit offered by Saint Joseph. Mary Magdalene, with downcast eyes and a sorrowful expression, embraces the tranquil Virgin while peering at the Child. The bowl of fruit, which symbolically recounts the fall of mankind and its redemption through Christ — the apple alludes to the transgression of Adam and Eve, cherries recall the Passion of Christ, peaches signify salvation, and pears suggest the sweetness of Christ’s virtue — is prominently positioned. The painting exudes an overall spirit of optimism, expressed by the sun, which breaks through the menacing storm clouds above the celestial group. At least seven versions of this composition exist, executed by El Greco either alone or with the assistance of his workshop.
 Georges de La Tour (1593–1652)
Saint Peter Repentant
1645
Oil on canvas
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Fund
The brooding chiaroscuro of Caravaggio’s Saint Andrew is employed to great dramatic effect in La Tour’s painting. Realizing that he had forsaken Christ three times before the cock’s crow as foretold at the Last Supper, Peter atones for his offence. Unlike Saint Andrew, whose suffering takes place in a public setting, Saint Peter endures his grief in solitude. His remorse is articulated by his expressive face and imploring hands, eloquently illuminated by the lantern placed at the saint’s feet. The lamp serves a dual purpose: it is both the painting’s light source and one of Peter’s attributes (like the cock and the keys on his lap). The subtle inclusion of a vine leaf, positioned on the wall above the cock’s head, alludes to the disciple’s ultimate faithfulness.
 Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi da
Caravaggio) (1571–1610)
The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew
1606–7
Oil on canvas
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Fund
Saint Andrew commands the canvas, his outstretched arms
lashed with ropes to a wooden cross, his head lolling to one side, and his emaciated body dramatically lit, rising out of the encroaching darkness. On the disciple’s right a man attempts to undo his bindings as a throng of followers and executioners stare upward, spellbound. Andrew attempted to convert the Greeks to Christianity but was sentenced by the pagan proconsul to be crucified in Patras. Although the proconsul relented finally, Andrew still prayed to be crucified like Christ. His strength failing, Andrew continued to preach while his captors were mysteriously paralyzed, preventing his liberation. Caravaggio, whose religious paintings were praised for their innovative use of dramatic lighting and naturalistic figures, executed this canvas in Naples for Count de Benavente, the Spanish viceroy of Naples from 1603 to 1610.
 Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825)
Cupid and Psyche
1817
Oil on canvas
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Fund
Painted by Jacques-Louis David during his exile in Brussels, this late work evoked mixed reactions from critics, some finding it innovative and others dismissing it as bizarre. Threatened by Psyche’s celebrated beauty, Venus orders her son, Cupid, to make her earthly rival fall in love with a vile man. Instead, Cupid falls in love with Psyche himself and conceals her in his palace, where he visits her only under cover of night. David renders Cupid ruddy faced and smiling, attempting to disentangle himself from his sleeping lover, Psyche, without waking her; her attribute, the butterfly, hovers above the couple. Through the open window one sees the rising sun, warning Cupid to hurry lest Psyche awaken and learn the identity of her nocturnal paramour. James Gallatin (1796–1876), the nineteen-year-old son of the American envoy in Paris, has been identified as the model for Cupid.
 Diego de Velázquez (1599–1660)
The Jester Calabazas
c. 1631–32
Oil on canvas
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Fund
Juan de Cardenas, known as “Calabazas” (gourd or
simpleton), was a jester in the court of Philip IV of Spain, Velázquez’s preeminent patron. The subject’s misshapen foot, undersized head, and crossed eyes indicate his physical and mental frailties. Velázquez renders the youth, who led a privileged life at court, in full length and fashionably clad in Hapsburg black. His left hand holds a pinwheel — suggestive of Calabazas’s childlike nature and a symbol of folly. In his right hand, Calabazas clutches a miniature of a woman, which may represent Philip’s wife, Margaret of Austria. Calabazas was her jester, and this painting possibly was installed in a Room of Jesters in Margaret’s apartments.
 Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664)
Christ and the Virgin in the House
at Nazareth
c. 1635–40
Oil on canvas
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Fund
Against a humble domestic backdrop, a mother and her son labor companionably at their tasks, when the boy pierces his finger on the crown of thorns he is weaving. Though reminiscent of a genre scene, the painting portrays the Virgin and Child. Common household objects dispersed throughout the scene take on symbolic significance: the table evokes an altar; figs indicate the Eucharist or Redemption; the pot of water is a baptismal font; and the pair of doves suggests the Presentation in the Temple. The Virgin, seated next to a vase filled with lilies and roses —- standard Marian symbols — looks on at her wounded son despairingly but motionless, implying her powerlessness to save him from his impending suffering.
The exhibition is made possible, in part, by the generous support of Melvin R. Seiden in honor of Sherman Lee and by Mr. and Mrs. Walter A. Eberstadt in honor of Michael J. Horvitz. The accompanying catalogue is made possible, in part, by Lawrence and Julie Salander.
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