St. Thomas Aquinas Confounding Averroës
- Date
- 1445–50
- Material
- Tempera and gold leaf on panel
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- European Art to 1800
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 222
- Dimensions
- 9 3/4 x 10 5/16 in. (24.7 x 26.2 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 56:1941
NOTES
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 or 1227–1274) stands at the lectern flanked by Christian thinkers discussing the sleeping Muslim philosopher Averroës (1126–98). By placing Saint Thomas directly above the prone figure, the artist symbolically elevates Aquinas’s teachings over those of Averroës.
Originally a cover for the Sienese treasury’s records, this panel included a lower half with the heraldic emblems of the treasury officers’ families. The tops of some insignia are just visible along the panel’s cut lower edge.
Originally a cover for the Sienese treasury’s records, this panel included a lower half with the heraldic emblems of the treasury officers’ families. The tops of some insignia are just visible along the panel’s cut lower edge.
Provenance
by 1923 -
Paul Ludwig Silten, Berlin, Germany [1]
- still in 1939
Lili Frölich-Bume (b.1886), Vienna, Austria; England [2]
- 1941
A. F. Mondschein (Frederick Mont), New York, NY, USA [3]
1941 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from A. F. Mondschein through Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., New York, NY [4]
Notes:
[1] A 1923 publication lists the work as being in the collection of Silten [Bode, Wilhelm von, and W. F. Volbach. "Die Sammlung Silten." Berlin: Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 1923, cat. no. 200, p. 73].
[2] Lili Frölich-Bume emigrated from Vienna to England in 1938 upon the Nazi occupation of Austria [Wendland, Ulrike. "Biographisches Handbuch deutschsprachiger Kunsthistoriker im Exil: Leben und Werk der unter dem Nationalsozialismus verfolgten und vertriebenen Wissenschaftler." Vol. I. Munich: Saur, 1999, pp. 180-183]. It appears that Frölich-Bume owned the panel by at least 1939 when John Pope-Hennessy, a renowned art historian who also resided in England, wrote to Frölich-Bume and mentioned that he saw the panel at "Isepp's" [letter dated June 30, 1939, SLAM document files]. "Isepp's" probably refers to Sebastian Isepp (1884-1954), a well-known restorer formerly employed at the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna. He, too, left Vienna in 1938 and settled in London where he worked in this capacity for various institutions ["Arts in Exile in Britain 1933-1945: Politics and Cultural Identity." Ed. by Shulamith Behr and Marian Malet. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2005, pp. 348-49, 353-54].
Upon the Museum's purchase of the painting in 1941, Pope-Hennessy wrote to the Museum and verified that the work was with Frölich-Bume in 1939 by citing his June 30, 1939 letter [letter dated June 4, 1941, SLAM document files].
[3] It is unknown how or when Mondschein acquired the panel. Mondschein's ownership is listed in various Museum documents [SLAM document files].
[4] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, June 5, 1941, and August 7, 1941. The Museum Minutes from June 5, 1941 state that the painting was purchased from Mondschein. The Museum Minutes from August 7, 1941 list the seller as "Mondschein (Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co.)," indicating that Seligmann may have been acting as the agent on Mondschein's behalf or that they were partners in this sale. Their affiliation during the Museum's acquisition of the painting explains the invoice from Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co. dated June 23, 1941 (the invoice does not list Mondschein as an owner or associate) [SLAM document files]. Although Mondschein and Seligmann's involvement with the sale of the painting to the Museum is somewhat unclear, they are known to have conducted numerous business transactions together [Jacques Seligmann & Cie documents, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; email from Anne Louise Bayly, Archives of American Art, December 8, 2004, SLAM document files].
Paul Ludwig Silten, Berlin, Germany [1]
- still in 1939
Lili Frölich-Bume (b.1886), Vienna, Austria; England [2]
- 1941
A. F. Mondschein (Frederick Mont), New York, NY, USA [3]
1941 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from A. F. Mondschein through Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., New York, NY [4]
Notes:
[1] A 1923 publication lists the work as being in the collection of Silten [Bode, Wilhelm von, and W. F. Volbach. "Die Sammlung Silten." Berlin: Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 1923, cat. no. 200, p. 73].
[2] Lili Frölich-Bume emigrated from Vienna to England in 1938 upon the Nazi occupation of Austria [Wendland, Ulrike. "Biographisches Handbuch deutschsprachiger Kunsthistoriker im Exil: Leben und Werk der unter dem Nationalsozialismus verfolgten und vertriebenen Wissenschaftler." Vol. I. Munich: Saur, 1999, pp. 180-183]. It appears that Frölich-Bume owned the panel by at least 1939 when John Pope-Hennessy, a renowned art historian who also resided in England, wrote to Frölich-Bume and mentioned that he saw the panel at "Isepp's" [letter dated June 30, 1939, SLAM document files]. "Isepp's" probably refers to Sebastian Isepp (1884-1954), a well-known restorer formerly employed at the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna. He, too, left Vienna in 1938 and settled in London where he worked in this capacity for various institutions ["Arts in Exile in Britain 1933-1945: Politics and Cultural Identity." Ed. by Shulamith Behr and Marian Malet. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2005, pp. 348-49, 353-54].
Upon the Museum's purchase of the painting in 1941, Pope-Hennessy wrote to the Museum and verified that the work was with Frölich-Bume in 1939 by citing his June 30, 1939 letter [letter dated June 4, 1941, SLAM document files].
[3] It is unknown how or when Mondschein acquired the panel. Mondschein's ownership is listed in various Museum documents [SLAM document files].
[4] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, June 5, 1941, and August 7, 1941. The Museum Minutes from June 5, 1941 state that the painting was purchased from Mondschein. The Museum Minutes from August 7, 1941 list the seller as "Mondschein (Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co.)," indicating that Seligmann may have been acting as the agent on Mondschein's behalf or that they were partners in this sale. Their affiliation during the Museum's acquisition of the painting explains the invoice from Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co. dated June 23, 1941 (the invoice does not list Mondschein as an owner or associate) [SLAM document files]. Although Mondschein and Seligmann's involvement with the sale of the painting to the Museum is somewhat unclear, they are known to have conducted numerous business transactions together [Jacques Seligmann & Cie documents, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; email from Anne Louise Bayly, Archives of American Art, December 8, 2004, SLAM document files].
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.