Entombment of Christ
- Date
- c.1490
- Material
- Oil on panel
- made in
- Netherlands, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- European Art to 1800
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 23 1/16 x 18 5/16 in. (58.6 x 46.5 cm)
framed: 27 5/8 x 22 1/2 in. (70.2 x 57.2 cm) - Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 4:1935
NOTES
Joseph of Arimathea (with his back to the viewer), Nicodemus, and Mary Magdalene carry the dead body of Christ along the road toward the right edge of the picture. The origin of their journey, the hill with the empty cross, enhances the sense of desolation as they proceed toward the background tomb where workers roll away the stone. A central road divides the composition. A second group, centered on Christ’s mother Mary in a blue cloak, falls behind. This artist’s distinctive figures are typically rendered with large heads, delicate features, high-domed foreheads, and small, active hands with tapered fingers. These characteristics are exemplified by the woman facing us in the center and the well-dressed woman (perhaps the patron) behind the Virgin Mary.
Provenance
Count Dominguez
Royal Family of Spain, acquired from Count Dominguez [1]
- 1904
Isabella II, Queen of Spain (1830-1904)
1904 -
Eulalia, Infanta of Spain (1864-1958), by inheritance [2]
by 1930 -
Galerie Paul Cassirer, Berlin, Germany; Amsterdam, The Netherlands [3]
by 1933 - 1935
Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc., New York, NY, USA [4]
1935 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc. [5]
Notes:
[1] Dealer correspondence states that the painting came into the collection of the Royal family of Spain through Count Dominguez [letter from dealer Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc., dated February 28, 1935, to the Museum, SLAM document files].
[2] Isabella II, Queen of Spain, reigned from 1833-68. According to a letter from Arnold Seligmann (see note [1]) her daughter, Infanta Eulalia, inherited the painting upon Isabella II's death in 1904.
[3] The painting was illustrated in "Pantheon" in 1930, and listed as being in the collection of Paul Cassirer (1871-1926): "...It is because of the courtesy of P. Cassirer that we are able to present a work that has recently been discovered in Spain, featuring an entombment of Christ, and which is currently in possession of the mentioned company [Cassirer]" (translated from the German) [Falke, Otto von and August L. Mayer, ed. "Pantheon. A Monthly Magazine for Connoisseurs and Collectors of Art." 1930, p. 578]. Although Paul Cassirer died in 1926, his gallery continued to operate until 1933.
A letter from Walter Feilchenfeldt, a dealer who maintains the Paul Cassirer records, notes that the painting (inventory number 20239) was given to the Berlin branch of Galerie Paul Cassirer from its Amsterdam firm on January 13, 1930. Although it was eventually sent back to Amsterdam, Feilchenfeldt notes that it does not necessarily indicate that the Amsterdam firm owned the painting. Currently, the Amsterdam firm's few remaining documents do not mention the work [letter dated October 13, 2006, SLAM document files].
[4] In Seligmann's 1935 letter (see note [1]), there is a statement indicating that the picture was in a Spanish collection, not yet discovered, when Max J. Friedländer was preparing his important multi-volume series on Early Netherlandish Art, first issued in 1924 [Friedländer, Max J. "Die altniederländische Malerei: Geertgen tot Sint Jans und Hieronymus Bosch." Berlin: P. Cassirer, 1924-1937]. Friedländer confirmed the attribution of the painting to the Master of the Virgo inter Virgines as early as 1930 [statement from Friedländer dated January 15, 1930, written on the back of a photograph of the work, SLAM document files]. In 1933, Friedländer again verified the attribution of the painting in a letter to Seligmann, also transcribed in Seligmann's 1935 letter.
[5] Invoice from Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc. dated March 8, 1935 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, January 3, 1935.
Royal Family of Spain, acquired from Count Dominguez [1]
- 1904
Isabella II, Queen of Spain (1830-1904)
1904 -
Eulalia, Infanta of Spain (1864-1958), by inheritance [2]
by 1930 -
Galerie Paul Cassirer, Berlin, Germany; Amsterdam, The Netherlands [3]
by 1933 - 1935
Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc., New York, NY, USA [4]
1935 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc. [5]
Notes:
[1] Dealer correspondence states that the painting came into the collection of the Royal family of Spain through Count Dominguez [letter from dealer Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc., dated February 28, 1935, to the Museum, SLAM document files].
[2] Isabella II, Queen of Spain, reigned from 1833-68. According to a letter from Arnold Seligmann (see note [1]) her daughter, Infanta Eulalia, inherited the painting upon Isabella II's death in 1904.
[3] The painting was illustrated in "Pantheon" in 1930, and listed as being in the collection of Paul Cassirer (1871-1926): "...It is because of the courtesy of P. Cassirer that we are able to present a work that has recently been discovered in Spain, featuring an entombment of Christ, and which is currently in possession of the mentioned company [Cassirer]" (translated from the German) [Falke, Otto von and August L. Mayer, ed. "Pantheon. A Monthly Magazine for Connoisseurs and Collectors of Art." 1930, p. 578]. Although Paul Cassirer died in 1926, his gallery continued to operate until 1933.
A letter from Walter Feilchenfeldt, a dealer who maintains the Paul Cassirer records, notes that the painting (inventory number 20239) was given to the Berlin branch of Galerie Paul Cassirer from its Amsterdam firm on January 13, 1930. Although it was eventually sent back to Amsterdam, Feilchenfeldt notes that it does not necessarily indicate that the Amsterdam firm owned the painting. Currently, the Amsterdam firm's few remaining documents do not mention the work [letter dated October 13, 2006, SLAM document files].
[4] In Seligmann's 1935 letter (see note [1]), there is a statement indicating that the picture was in a Spanish collection, not yet discovered, when Max J. Friedländer was preparing his important multi-volume series on Early Netherlandish Art, first issued in 1924 [Friedländer, Max J. "Die altniederländische Malerei: Geertgen tot Sint Jans und Hieronymus Bosch." Berlin: P. Cassirer, 1924-1937]. Friedländer confirmed the attribution of the painting to the Master of the Virgo inter Virgines as early as 1930 [statement from Friedländer dated January 15, 1930, written on the back of a photograph of the work, SLAM document files]. In 1933, Friedländer again verified the attribution of the painting in a letter to Seligmann, also transcribed in Seligmann's 1935 letter.
[5] Invoice from Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc. dated March 8, 1935 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, January 3, 1935.
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