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Sulpicia

Pietro di Francesco degli Orioli (Italian, 1458-1496) (Painter)
ca. 1493-1495 (Renaissance)
tempera and oil on panel
(Renaissance Europe )

Sulpicia was chosen in the 3rd century BCE from among a hundred women in Rome as the most worthy to dedicate a statue to the goddess Venus Verticordia, protector of women. Before an imaginary view of the city of Rome, Sulpicia holds a model of the temple of the goddess.

The painting is one of eight surviving related panels depicting Roman men and women who exemplified virtuous behavior. The series was probably made to celebrate the marriage in 1493 of Silvio di Bartolomeo Piccolomini (a relative of Pope Pius II) and was intended to provide moral examples for the newly married couple.

The artist's fascination with antiquity is visible not only in the subject matter but also in the classicizing linear gracefulness of the human form and the ornament of the base.

Inscription

[Transcription] Inscribed on pedestal: SVLPITIA / QUAE FACERE VENERI TEMPLVM CASTAE Q PROBAEQ / SVLPITIA EX TOTA SVM MERITA VRBE LEGI / ARA PVDICITIAE PECTVS SIBI QVODQ PVDICUM EST / TERREA CVNCTA RVVT FAMA DECVSQ MANET; [Translation] Inscribed on pedastal: I am Sulpicia, who from the whole city was deservedly selected to build the temple to the chasTe and virtuous Venus. Whatever breast is chaste in itself is an altar of chastity. All earthly things come to ruin but fame and honor remain.

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1897 catalogue: no. 120, as Antonio Pollaiuolo]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Exhibitions

2007-2008 Renaissance Siena: Art for a City. The National Gallery, London.
1994-1995 Renaissance Books and Manuscripts of the Humanist Age. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.

Conservation

Date Description Narrative
1/1/1900 Examination examined for condition
2/1/1946 Treatment loss compensation; varnish removed or reduced
3/1/1946 Treatment inpainted; loss compensation; varnish removed or reduced
1/24/1967 Treatment inpainted; varnish removed or reduced
8/8/1984 Examination examined for condition
8/23/1984 Examination examined for condition
1/1/1987 Treatment inpainted; loss compensation; varnish removed or reduced
4/25/2005 Examination examined for condition
5/16/2005 Examination examined for condition
1/8/2007 Examination examined for loan
2/15/2007 Examination examined for loan
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Geographies

Italy, Siena (Place of Origin)

Measurements

Painted surface H including strips added on all sides: 42 1/2 x W: 18 11/16 in. (108 x 47.5 cm); Panel H: 42 x W: 18 1/4 x D: 13/16 in. (106.7 x 46.3 x 2.1 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902

Location in Museum

Charles Street: Third Floor: 15th-Century Italian Art

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

37.616

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